What Love Island and The Lionesses win can teach us about gender equality

If the past eight weeks has taught us anything, it’s that women do not need saving, but encouragement. It’s something we were reminded of repeatedly while watching this year’s Love Island––a show oft-criticised for its poor handling of serious issues––where women repeatedly called the shots, stormed forward (in both good ways and bad) and captured the public’s attention by way of femme fatale girlbossery. Long gone are the days when women were relegated to wallflowers, praised for their poise or speak only when spoken to, the present of the modern woman is loud, proud and bolstered by the productions that surround her.

As we’ve also just seen with the English Women’s Football Team The Lionesses, great things happen when women are funded and subsequently encouraged to achieve their potential. This result, of course, was created by way of a myriad of successes, each committing themselves to making the world a better place for women in the workplace, and in turn, workplace relations as a whole; more visibility, increased funding, social media support to name a few. The same can be said about Love Island’s newly formed rhetoric, with structures and support systems put in place to help rather than hinder the average, oftentimes working-class, woman.

When compared with the outright discrimination women faced in the workplace in decades past, institutional sexism faced by working women today remains covert, complex and subtle.
Covid-19 shined an illuminating light on these cracks, with women losing more jobs than men (so much so that the term “she-cession” was coined) shouldering much of the extra child care duties and responsibilities when schools shut down and more stress, anxiety and burnout overall. For those women who had jobs that couldn’t be performed remotely, it meant they lost their jobs. According to the latest World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, the global gender gap is now not expected to close for another 136 years. Before the pandemic, it was expected to close in 100.

The benefits of a diverse workplace are endless, ranging from fresh perspectives to improved staff retention by way of a happy and appreciative staff. So, how does one address a gender disparity?

These are some of the things on our minds here in Fitzgerald power:

Focus on how your business attracts, hires and retains female talent

For example, by removing any bias from job descriptions. Back in 2008, the European Court of Justice ruled that job advertisements could be directly (or indirectly) discriminatory––a landmark development in recruitment discrimination, however, the somewhat unspoken use of gender-neutral language in job postings is still a serious issue. To encourage more women to apply to roles, companies should use ‘open’ words like ‘supportive’, alongside definitive language such as ‘collaborative’, in lieu of aggressive language such as ‘superior’, ‘competitie, ‘autonomous’.

Be open to flexibility

While the pandemic shone a spotlight on inequality in the workplace, it has also shown that it is possible to do things differently. LinkedIn data finds that women are 26% more likely to apply to remote jobs than men––but to ensure women do not have to choose between their family and their careers, flexible working opportunities are vital.

Bring women into the decision-making process

Considering the female point of view is crucial to a more accepting workplace. To put it in popular culture terms, Love Island has been slammed since its inception for coordinating the show via the male gaze. But as audiences have grown to become more aware of this, the team behind the series have joined forces with Women’s Aid to address issues members of the production team never saw coming. The show remains hugely popular, conscious of criticism and now wholly aware of how the viewer experience comes across.

Put an end to salary secrecy

An increased transparency around take home pay is one definitive step any organisation can make. According to research from the UK’s Fawcett Society, 40% of people don’t know that women have a right to equal pay for work of equal value, only 36% of people know that women have a legal right to ask male colleagues about their salary if they suspect pay discrimination and in the majority of workplaces, only 24% of people said salaries are discussed openly in their place of work.

Final thought

Remember, workers can be biased to their own gender, as well. Female leaders may consciously, or unconsciously, fight to protect their status in the organisation. It is crucial to both company culture and staff wellbeing that your female employees do not sense that top-level positions are scarce for them.

Fostering those true and appreciative human connections can be hard, but a connected workplace culture is worth it: on average, companies with high connection scores had 32% higher ratings than their competitors, were 14 times more likely to be named on a “best places to work” list and were 25% more likely to be recommended by current employees to their friends.

Fitzgerald Power believes in the power of change. Business is always changing. So are we. We are always learning, always broadening our skillset. We want to tackle any and every challenge that comes our way. It’s what we do. Please get in touch today if you would like to speak to any of our experts.

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