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Women in the Workplace 2018 Report – there’s a lot of work to do
For the last four years, McKinsey and Lean In have published in-depth reports on the state of women in the workplace. Their 2018 report, released this October, was clear – the needle has barely moved since they started conducting surveys with thousands of employees at hundreds of companies, despite significantly more attention being placed on issues of gender in the workplace. The report concludes by indicating that companies say they want to make change, but aren’t actually doing the work to make it happen. The authors outline several steps to make change happen.
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Superhero Series: How Privilege Shows Up at Work
I’m just going to admit this right up front. I watch a lot of movies and TV shows that involve superheroes – yes, that includes all the Avengers movies, X-Men, The Flash, and, most recently Supergirl. Last week was the season premiere of Supergirl. They aren’t shy about diving into issues around race, sexuality, and gender… but this last episode tackles one issue that I want to specifically address and that’s how privilege affects us all, including in the workplace.
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Feminist Books for Kids!
Looking for a way to introduce your child to issues of social awareness– but not quite sure how to do it in a way that’s age appropriate? Have no fear! We’ve rounded up a bunch of feminist children’s books to help you start the journey to raising a strong, feminist, patriarchy-smashing adult, whether your child is a girl or a boy or anything else on the gender spectrum. Feminist Baby – Loryn Brantz Some people may be familiar with Loryn Brantz because of her popular comics on Buzzfeed.
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Why We Added a Plus to Our Name
When we first launched Inclusion Geeks in the spring of 2015, we were very squarely focused on supporting women in tech and tech-adjacent roles, in creating a community and a sense of belonging for those who wanted to be a part of a network of passionate, funny, smart, women who could be themselves, free from judgment, and able to embrace their awkward. That mission hasn’t changed, but has expanded, which is why we added the “+”.
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How to Support your Pregnant Colleague
Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in 1978, outlawing discrimination based on pregnancy and childbirth-related medical conditions, and 30 years later, the Americans with Disabilities Act was updated, requiring employers to provide accommodations to pregnant women with certain conditions that could qualify as disabilities. Yay, right? Unfortunately, despite attempts to put laws into place to remove discrimination, between 2010 and 2015 nearly 31,000 charges were filed and in 2017 $15 million in settlements were paid out, all for pregnancy discrimination.
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How to Catch and Keep a Quality Mentor
It used to be that you only had to dodge questions about whether you had a significant other at family gatherings, but nowadays you get to work and everyone wants to know about the status of that other must-have relationship. Do you have a mentor? What kinds of things do you do together? Does your mentor have a friend who can be my mentor? Maybe we could all double sometime. OK, I’m exaggerating slightly.
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Eight Ways to Mitigate Bias When Interviewing
Have you ever walked into a room to interview a candidate, saw that they were in a wheelchair, and thought: hmm, they may not be able to do the job because it’ll be hard for them to get around? Or maybe you saw on someone’s resume that one of their hobbies is rock climbing and hey, you love rock climbing, too, so they’d be great to work with! Or perhaps when you said hi to the interviewee and tried to make small talk, they didn’t seem into it, so they probably wouldn’t be fun to work with.
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Affirmative Action and Quotas in the Workplace
When thinking of implementing quotas in the workplace in order to help with imbalances in race, gender, and ability, many of us might scrunch our brains trying to think if this is fair or not. Is this reverse discrimination? How will it ‘sit’ with employees? With people outside of our company who are judging us? Where are we right now when it comes to having an ‘appetite’ for putting quotas in place? First, let’s talk about the history of quotas in the US, to clear up some common misconceptions. Many people conflate quotas and affirmative action.
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What is Impostor Syndrome– and How do You Fight It?
The experience of feeling like you don’t deserve your success resonates with many successful people, including probably many reading this. It’s the relatable, but irrational, sinking suspicion of “I don’t belong here” or “I don’t deserve this” after receiving a promotion or some other accomplishment. This feeling is called impostor syndrome, and it describes exactly that: feeling as though you’re an impostor in your own life, and that you’ve only succeeded because you’re lucky, and not due to your own talent, intelligence, or qualifications.
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Election Series: Everything You Need To Know About Massachusetts’ Female Candidates!
In the past weeks, we’ve covered the female candidates running for office in the Massachusetts primary election, and there are a lot– so to make it easier, we’ve put everything here in one convenient place! While our Inclusion Geeks Panel featuring Ayanna Pressley, Brianna Wu, and Sam Hammar on August 21st is currently full, you can still sign up to be on the waitlist through our Eventbrite page.
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Election Series: Female Candidates for State Senate and Other Positions
This week, we’re covering the remaining female candidates in Massachusetts on the ballot for the primary election on September 4th– the candidates for State Senate, as well as other candidates throughout the state for miscellaneous state, municipal, or county positions. While our Inclusion Geeks Panel featuring Ayanna Pressley, Brianna Wu, and Sam Hammar on August 21st is currently full, you can still sign up to be on the waitlist through our Eventbrite page.
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Election Series: Female Candidates for State Representative Outside of the Greater Boston Area
Last week, we covered the candidates for Massachusetts State Representative in the Greater Boston Area– and this week, we’re returning to give you some needed info on the candidates in the rest of Massachusetts. Still remaining are the female candidates for State Senate, and the candidates for other positions throughout the state. While our Inclusion Geeks Panel featuring Ayanna Pressley, Brianna Wu, and Sam Hammar on August 21st is currently full, you can still sign up to be on the waitlist through the Eventbrite page.