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Gender Equity



"Gender equity means fairness of treatment for men and women according to their respective needs. This also includes equal treatment or treatment that is different but which is considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations, and opportunities" (UNESDOC). Gender equity is an integral part of Strategic human resource management. Gender equity (vs equality) talks about being fair to employees regardless of gender.In the past work environment was more conducive for men than women and this gave an unfair advantage to men in workplace. As times are changing and women are becoming independent, with the help of social media, the concerns which were not talked about before are being raised more often and in many cases said employees are leaving companies to look for more conducive work environment. This has caused a shortage of diverse talent. This change has forced companies to reconsider their stand and come up with new policies such as gender-neutral policies, etc.




There are many cons to the one pro listed above, many companies have been slow to change their policies and others which have changed are not enforcing these policies strongly. As a result, there are cases where management has a “this is how it’s always been done here” attitude. Other example which was talked about is when a male worker is hesitant to be alone with female co-worker because they might say something and hence instead of changing keeps avoiding, reinforcing feeling of gender inequity.

Change needs to be in the behavior and understanding of the issue at hand and avoiding it is not the solution. Companies that have still not implemented gender equity policies are being called out in social media and are losing talent because of it.HR leaders should bring different groups (diversity, engagement, marketing, communications, etc.) together to come up with one unified plan and equity message which might help.Gender equity sensitive topic that talks about how behavioral change is needed from companies. This is important in today’s changing world and would benefit HR professionals.

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