Why Gender Equity and Equality Matter in the Workplace

October 24, 2022 Flory Wilson

It’s easy to understand how the inclusive and equal treatment of all genders by employers would help women and non-cisgender people thrive professionally, financially, and psychologically.

But gender equality in the workplace isn’t just good for marginalized genders: it’s also beneficial for the bottom line of companies, economies, and nations as a whole. In fact, businesses that don’t invest in equitable gender policies stand to lose their money, talent, reputation, and more.

Here are just a few reasons why gender equity and equality are important in the workplace:

Barriers to female entrepreneurship, the wage gap, the pension gap, biased hiring and promotion practices, and other inequities all prevent women from building wealth. This in turn prevents them from building generational wealth, which harms the socioeconomic health of women, their families, and their communities.

67% of overall job seekers assess company diversity when they are considering job offers; 61% of women look at gender diversity in particular. Businesses who don’t make a conscious effort to at least become more diverse—which in itself doesn’t guarantee equality—stand to miss out on highly skilled employees. This is especially detrimental in a tight labor market.

Bringing more workers and more diverse groups into the workforce could help ease inflation.

Nonprofits and businesses that actively support gender equality make better decisions (up to 87% of the time), and ultimately make higher profits. Organizations with low gender and racial diversity are 29% more likely to make lower profits.

Part of the profits earned by equitable businesses may be attributed to the fact that women decision-makers can better help companies meet the needs of women consumers. Women are major spenders in 6 key industries: food, beauty, fitness, apparel, healthcare, and financial services. Given that women account for $20 trillion in annual spending, offering products and services that serve them well can drive exponential profits.

Companies with gender-diverse executive boards outperform the stock values of those with all-male boards.
Reducing gender pay gaps can increase the national gross domestic product (GDP), strengthening the country’s economy and wealth.

Achieve Workforce Gender Equality with Gender IDEAL

Gender IDEAL helps companies to make their workplaces inclusive, diverse, and equal in access and leadership for all genders, particularly for women of color, women of different sexual orientations, gender identities, religions, economic backgrounds, and abilities.

We have tools to help your company through the whole improvement life cycle. This includes diagnostic assessments, benchmark and recommendation reports with a custom action plan designed for your company, and the resources and support you need to put those recommendations into action—including a plan for reproductive health protection.