805: How Leaders Can Better Support Women, with Leanne Dzubinski

Leanne Dzubinski: Glass Walls

Leanne Dzubinski is an expert on naming and eliminating gender bias in organizations. She is the Dean of Faculty Development and Global Education at Westmont College and a sought-after speaker, consultant, and expert witness who shares tools and strategies that enable women to thrive and organizations to improve their practices. She is the coauthor, along with Amy Diehl, of Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work (Amazon, Bookshop)*.

Most leaders recognize that bias exists in the workplace for many underrepresented leadership groups, including women. In this conversation, Leanne and I explore how devaluation shows up and how leaders can do a better job at removing it from their teams and organizations.

Key Points

• Six bias barriers show up substantially when researching women in the workplace. One of them is devaluation.
• Office housework is a common way that women’s contributions become devalued. Leaders should be conscious of distributing this work to everyone and/or providing a reward structure for doing it.
• Diminishment includes pet names like “girl” and “young lady” that some use to refer to women. This includes removing titles of women in places where they appear for men. Leaders should consider asking how people want to be addressed.
• Benevolent sexism consists of seemingly chivalrous comments and behavior based on stereotypical assumptions about women. Leaders should let women decide what opportunities they participate in and avoid making decisions for them.
• Salary inequality is well documented in research. Salary transparency helps reduce this inequality, and salary reviews also help correct disparities.
• Leaders calling attention to injustice, even through rephrasing inappropriate language, sets the tone for a more supportive workplace.

Resources Mentioned

• Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work by Leanne Dzubinski and Amy Diehl (Amazon, Bookshop)*

Interview Notes

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

• How to Support Women of Color, with Minda Harts (episode 506)
• The Power in Empowering Differences, with Ashley Brundage (episode 548)
• How to Address Bad Behavior, with Nilofer Merchant (episode 779)

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