Gender bias in the workplace is a clear barrier preventing women from being promoted, being paid equitably, and rising into leadership roles. To #BeatTheBias, companies need to move beyond diversity training and consider the systems and processes that perpetuate bias in their workplace. Reimagining performance management, creating a coaching culture, and committing to transparency are three ways leaders can fight bias within their organizations.

Gender inequality in the workplace is not only a social issue; it’s an economic one.

A recent McKinsey Global Institute report found that closing the gender pay gap and improving equity for women in the workplace could add $12 trillion to the global GDP by 2025.

That’s important because women make up more than half of the world’s working-age population and make the majority of financial decisions in their households.

Women have also been negatively impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic, and women of color, who are more likely to be laid off or furloughed during the crisis, have been hit especially hard.

Burnout is on the rise, as working mothers take on virtual schoolwork and the feeling of always being “on” at work and at home.

As a result, the 2020 Women in the Workplace Report found that 1 in 4 women are considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce.

This has major implications on companies who are struggling to hire qualified candidates, make values-driven decisions around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and navigate uncertainty alongside their clients and customers.

And despite the gains we’ve made globally to close the gender pay gap, a new study suggests that due to the pandemic, women’s wages might not recover until 2040.

Three years ago, I wrote a blog about how to close the gender pay gap.

In that article, I shared that, based on current progress, gender parity was more than 200 years away.

I’m happy to share this year that we’ve made progress! Gender parity is now just 99.5 years away, according to the WEF’s 2020 Global Gender Gap Report.

And while I’m thrilled to know that many countries have made huge strides in advancing women in leadership and politics, we still have a long way to go.

I still want to see parity in my lifetime, and that means focusing not only on the advancement of white women, who make 79 cents for every white male dollar, but of Black women, who make 62 cents per dollar, and Latinx women, who make just 55 cents per dollar.

In this two-part series, I’ll share my thoughts on how both women+ as individuals and companies can each do their part to close the gender pay gap.

International Women’s Day is celebrated on Sunday, March 8, 2020. It is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.

This year’s theme is #EachforEqual and recognizes a “collective individualism” that is necessary to advance women’s equality and close gender gaps in business, sports, media, and leadership.

Collective individualism means that we’re all part of the whole. Each of us is part of something bigger than ourselves, and our individual actions, mindsets, and behaviors make a difference. We can each do our part to make the world a better place for women and close those gender gaps.

Gloria Steinem said, "The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights."

It’s up to each of us to do our part to celebrate the achievements of women, challenge absurd organizational barriers, and advance women’s equality. Together, we rise.

Women are asking for promotions and negotiating salaries at the same rate as men. We’re showing up at work, committed to our companies and careers. And this translates to more women in senior and C-suite leadership positions across the country.

Yet, women continue to be underrepresented at every level of leadership.

The 2019 McKinsey report, Women in the Workplace, revealed that men said the biggest obstacle to parity in leadership was having too few qualified women in the pipeline, while women said they are being judged by different standards.

In reality, the research shows that the biggest opportunity isn’t in breaking the glass ceiling, but in what they term the “broken rung.”

Entitled.

That’s what I was called the very first time I negotiated my salary. Not from my boss, but from my boss’s boss.

I was fresh out of grad school and had just been offered a job at the hospital where I completed a 6-month administrative residency, and he was my Preceptor. In school, we were told what to expect as far as salary ranges, and the offer was very low compared to what we were told.

I wasn’t successful in negotiating that offer, but I was determined to get what I was worth. I applied to another job and got an offer from Johns Hopkins Hospital. Now, I had leverage. I told my boss about the Hopkins offer, and he asked “what will it take to get you to stay?” So I said, “A manager title and $10k more than this offer.” I was prepared, I did my homework, I had options, and I was confident in my ask. I got exactly what I asked for.

I had known since I was little that I would be going to college to get a degree, although the degree of choice changed a little over the years, from marine biology to architecture to engineering. I was fortunate to have parents that told me I could be and do anything that I wanted, and supportive mentors and teachers throughout high school. When I got to college, things changed a little…

Girl on girl crime is rampant.  I am consistently asked during my trainings and coaching sessions why women are often the harshest critics of other women.  The multi-layered problem is driven by the idea of scarcity: that there are only a few spots at the top for women, and in order to obtain a coveted place on the podium, you must compete with other women.  The commodifying language often used in male dominated work spaces further contribute to this myth: Which one are you?  The one from Michigan or Northwestern?  As though the leadership team is comparing tomatoes at a farmer’s market when talking about the few women on the team.

Equal Pay Day symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. This year, that date fell on April 10th, meaning women must work more than 3 extra months to earn an equal salary to our male counterparts.

The gender pay gap – which states that women, on average, make 77 cents for every dollar that men earn – is often mocked as a myth, a mistake or a lie. And not just by men; my female boss didn’t believe me when I shared this statistic with her.

In a recent blog post, I shared an even more deflating statistic: at this rate, gender parity is over 200 years away!