Conversations in HERstory

About This Event

When the topics of gender equality and equity in the workplace arise, conversations often include comments exclaiming, “how far women in the U.S. have come” and how there is less of a gender equity issue in the workplace. Although women in the U.S. certainly experienced more struggles fifty years ago than today, systemic inequities still present family and professional challenges for women, including unequal pay and gender bias in executive and manager-level hiring. During the 2020-2021 Covid-19 pandemic, 9.8 million mothers reported experiencing workplace burnout. Due to the unequal burden of housework and caretaking, mothers are 28% more likely to experience workplace burnout than fathers.

According to the Department of Labor Statistics, women’s participation in the workforce is expected to decline up to 2050 and beyond due to these challenges. But women are pivoting–there’s been a 114% increase in women-owned businesses than in the past 20 years. Women are continuing to dismantle systemic barriers and creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive spaces of their own.

In addition to workforce participation changes, once women are in the workforce, they tend to focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within the organization. Women who participate in the workforce are more likely to consider an organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion approach during the job search. Forty-five percent of women agree that it is important to know their employer’s stance on gender equity and equality while men value these topics at 31%. Additionally, according to Harvard Business Review, women leaders are more likely to spend time on DEI initiatives outside of their formal job responsibilities by steering employee resource groups or serving on DEI committees. 

Although women generally lead DEI efforts in their workspaces, Black women, LGBTQ+ women, and women with disabilities are twice as likely to spend a substantial amount of time promoting DEI than women from other backgrounds, yet these groups of women are often underrepresented and unheard within the organization. 

People3 invites you to our virtual panel discussion, Conversations in HERstory, to give space for women to share their stories, discuss the future of women in the workplace, and rewrite the narrative themselves.

Watch now on demand