This episode of the The Business Conversation Podcast features Dr. Amelia Reigstad, Founder of The Women Empowerment Series which encourages and inspires women to use their voice for change. Amelia shares the findings of her 7 year doctoral studies which proves there is inequality between men and women in the workplace. One of the findings was that women are expected to perform at their best as mothers and as professionals but are not sufficiently supported by the system. This is most apparent in pay gaps and the prevalence of the Queen Bee Syndrome which pits women against women for fear of losing hard-fought ground. For Amelia, change begins when effective two-way communication is deployed to recognize the true advantages of an equal workplace. Active listening is needed and women and their allies need to have a strong unified voice to move the conversation forward.
HIGHLIGHTS
02:14 Workplace conflict not a gender issue as it is a communication and personality issues
08:34 Performativity: Taking on traditional masculine traits to advance professionally
13:38 Work-life balance: Mothers are viewed differently in the workplace
19:02 Queen Bee Syndrome and maintaining the status quo on diversity and inclusivity
24:49 Authentic communication keeps the conversation of inequality alive
27:01 The pandemic has revealed that working mothers are burnt out
31:26 Organizations need to address pay gap to truly move forward
34:44 Effective communication is the first step to healing inequality
39:28 Book recommendation: Find Your Fierce by Teresa Sande
QUOTES
05:30 "What my interview participants articulated was that personality traits and communication styles of men and women is what actually influences conflict in the workplace. It's not so much about someone's gender."
12:22 "For so long, women have viewed behavior of men being able to make these decisions and behave in a certain way, it gets them that seat at the executive table. So now, as a woman, I'm going to mimic that because I view that as being successful."
22:54 "Men are aware that these challenges exist. But again, it doesn't impact them in the same way as it does women. And then, at least from my study, from an organizational perspective, in some cases there didn't necessarily seem to be any actionable desire to make change."
25:06 "Literally using our voice through communication, we have to be authentic, confident communicators in order to make change happen. So from that gender inequality perspective, keeping those conversations going."
35:29 "Effective communication in the workplace is absolutely critical... It all links to corporate culture, employee engagement, business operations. If your employees aren't happy and they're not engaged, there's going to be issues. So offering that two-way dialogue."
Follow the link below to learn more about Amelia.
Get your copy of Find Your Fierce by Teresa Sande below
This series is being put together in collaboration with AIGA Minnesota - one of the largest chapters of AIGA, that works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines of business, society, and our collective future.
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