Gender Inclusivity Starts From the Ground Up

The pandemic has had a damaging impact on society as a whole, especially for women and people of color.

Millions of women have been forced from the workforce, with Black and Latina facing the brunt of the damage. With remote working becoming mandatory for many employees, mothers were forced to either balance childcare responsibilities with work, or leave their jobs altogether.

However, these changes could open a new door of possibilities for gender equality in the workplace.

The focus on breaking the glass ceiling insinuates that women-identifying workers have to solve the problem, rather than fixing the system that marginalizes them in the first place.

The foundation of this issue starts with the history of workforce infrastructure being created and built by men. Because of this, barriers have been created that make it harder for women to thrive in the workforce. 

Building a company culture that is gender inclusive needs to start from the ground up. For instance, venture capital foundry Mother Superior started the business without the concept of a ceiling. The business was built specifically for founders that are usually excluded from the venture capital world.

They do so by redefining the traditional 9 to 5 schedule in favor of four day work weeks, as well as offering seven paid weeks off every year so workers can focus on family time.