Gender inequality is a global problem. All around the world, people are treated differently—and often poorly—based solely on their gender. Gender inequality is especially felt in the workplace, with the pay gap between genders persisting at similar levels for the last decade and a half. Luckily, we can fight gender inequality by understanding our differences, managing our biases, and standing up for others. When businesses create a more equal and inclusive culture, they and their employees—regardless of gender—benefit from diversity of thought and the outcomes it produces.
LRN’s new "Gender Equality" course is one step in the journey to help close the gender gap and increase equality. This DEI training course builds empathy for the global realities of gender inequality, helps us recognize how our biases contribute to it, and explores ways learners can be allies for gender equality. The end goal is to create a healthy workplace where people at all levels feel they have the support they need to achieve their full potential, regardless of gender.
What does "gender equality" mean?
Gender equality is a state in which people can freely access opportunities and resources in employment and other areas, without gender factoring into accessibility. It also entails equally valuing needs, aspirations, and behaviors regardless of a person's gender. To put it plainly: gender equality is about letting people be themselves and valuing them as individuals so no one feels limited by the expectations of who they should be or how they should act because of their gender. To do this successfully so everyone benefits, we all need to develop more empathy for each other.
Although steps to push for gender equality and mitigate inequality have been taken around the world, we have a long path to travel before we reach true equality. According to the 2021 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report, around 22% of the gender gap in international political empowerment has been closed—a mere 2.4% decrease from 2020. The same report also found that many people continue to feel the impact of the pandemic, revealing that the amount of time it will take to close the gender gap has increased from 99.5 years to 135.6.
Insight from Inequality.org indicates that the gap between men and women is still wide when it comes to earning capacity and position. Specifically, statistics show that female-dominated careers still comprise the bottom of the U.S. wage ladder and that women only represent 8% of CEOs at Fortune 500 companies. The same source also shows that men make up the majority of the country's top earners, despite women representing nearly half of the American workforce.
In addition, McKinsey concludes that there's a long way to go before closing the gender gap, giving a Gender Parity Score (GPS) to each year from zero to one, with one representing full gender equality. According to McKinsey, the global GPS in 2015 was 0.60. As of 2020, it was 0.61.
Introducing "Gender Equality," a new DEI course
Across the globe, men's voices and ideas are sought out more frequently compared to other genders. Their time and skills also receive higher pay. People generally take their concerns more seriously, and they hold the majority of leadership roles in both public and private sectors.
If we don't do something to combat this endemic problem, women will continue to remain undervalued and the world will miss out on their potential contributions. Change is needed to help bring more women into the spotlight and showcase their abilities, which can fuel a healthy workplace and long-term economic growth.
This new course from LRN is designed to promote gender equality and inclusion in your workplace, helping everyone reach their full potential regardless of their gender. This learning strategy ensures all of your employees will feel valued, yielding benefits for not only your workforce but your business as a whole. Employees who feel valued are more likely to be productive and effective and to do the right thing. They are also more inclined to stay with your business, growing with it over time. Having an equal and inclusive workplace will also be invaluable when recruiting new employees, as your business works toward closing the gender gap.
Course description
This 15-minute foundational DEI course outlines the issue of gender inequality from a global perspective. Your team members will learn the importance of closing the gender gap and what that can look like in their organization. For example, you will learn about how elevating women’s voices could increase productivity and collaboration among your employees.
The course also provides practical steps on how to promote gender equality in the workplace. Additionally, learners will receive guidance on how to be allies to women at work. This DEI course leverages LRN's new learning design model and is enhanced with additional assets to further support the learner journey such as:
- An emotionally engaging video
- Realistic scenarios
- Reflection prompts
- Ready-to-deploy learning assets that accompany the course—including conversation guides and templates for employee communications
Course objectives and learning outcomes
When taking this course, employees will learn about the effects of gender inequality and the steps they need to take toward promoting an equal workplace for everyone.
Specifically, this course is designed to help employees:
- Recognize the effects of gender inequality around the world.
- Identify their own biases and actively work to prevent them from negatively affecting their decisions and behavior.
- Take appropriate action to be an ally for gender equality.
Once completed, employees will have a better idea of what a more equal workplace looks like and how it functions. They'll also be able to proactively prevent discrimination from arising in the workplace based on gender along with other characteristics. As a result, your employees will be empowered to sustain a healthy culture for everyone on your team, which will contribute to the global movement to close the gender gap. Your bottom line will also improve, as happy and valued employees remain more productive and creative.
The key takeaway
To help close the gender gap and maintain a work environment that benefits your entire team, your staff should understand how to improve gender equality in the workplace. This will benefit your business while also making employees proud of the impact they have on the world. Following the completion of our Gender Equality course, learners will have a better idea of the role they play in promoting gender equality in your organization and be more motivated to take action.
Gender Equality is just one course in LRN’s growing DEI library—which also includes topics like LGBTQ+ allyship, microaggressions, and anti-racism—that you can sample for free. For more insight into DEI training and building a culture where everyone belongs, check out our new DEI collection of resources as well as our DEI page at LRN.com.
