Finding the levers of change

A huge amount has been written about how we might tackle inequality in the workplace. Corporates, NGOs, Government, think tanks and academia have all contributed to a body of work which points to many similar themes. Quantitative evidence of success is lacking against most strategies –but there is no shortage of qualitative examples (some of which you will see set out as case studies that accompany this playbook).

It is clear from all of the research that one of the largest barriers to women’s progress in the workplace is the unequal burden of care they shoulder in the home, family and community. However, in this playbook we have focussed only on those issues which businesses can feasibly change. For a broader picture of what could change domestically and societally “Leave noone behind:acalltoactionforgenderequalityand women’seconomicempowerment”, United Nations General Assembly, 2016 (and subsequent progress reports), gives a very rounded view.

We have focussed on the drivers of inequality which we believe will have maximum impact on the most women across all groups. We have collated and analysed data from as broad a range of sources as possible. Inevitably, it will be incomplete.

We have particularly sought out information which highlights the experience of women from minority groups but there is a lack of disaggregated data. From the data that does exist, what we do know is that women who are older, younger, living with a disability, non-white or who are LGBTQ+ are more likely to experience discrimination and the barriers that hinder women’s equality are likely to be exaggerated for them.

Our understanding and knowledge in this area grows every day; it is our intention to update references and case-studies over time, and our hope that organisations using this playbook may contribute their own experiences to this knowledge too by adopting the Measure with Meaning approach.