Unconscious Bias Still Holds Women Back: Here’s How You Can Help

Eleven years ago Sheryl Sandberg published her famous book, Lean In. A lot has changed for women in the workplace since then…right? 

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Unfortunately, not really. 

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Women, especially those in technical roles, still experience barriers to advancement due to unconscious bias, microaggressions, and stolen credit for their ideas and output. 

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According to the LeanIn.org Women in the Workplace 2024 report, research shows a lack of progress. While almost all companies offer some type of bias or allyship training for employees today, there hasn’t been much improvement in employees’ ability to recognize bias against women, especially women of color.   

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Women are more likely to experience actions and comments that undermine their job experience and skills. They’re also almost twice as likely as a man to be mistaken for a junior in their role. Microaggressions centered around questioning their competency are still common. 

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For women in technical roles, COVID-19 had a negative effect. The number of women in tech had been growing in the 5 years before the pandemic, only to experience a sharp 7.3% decrease by the end of 2020. Companies with smaller technical workforces saw a drop of 21% in the representation of technical women since March 2020. 

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Understanding why women still experience these problems

It’s disappointing that we’ve made so little progress, especially since there are many men and women in the workplace who want to support their female colleagues as they pursue career opportunities. The problem lies in the fact that humans are simply bad at perceiving bias and identifying problematic behavior. 

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This is backed up by research that shows senior-level men are the most optimistic—and least aware—of the barriers women face. Nine out of ten (90%!) senior-level men think that women’s opportunities for advancement have improved; six in ten (60%) senior-level women agree. Only one in ten (10%!) senior-level men observe microaggressions against women at work; four out of ten (40%) senior-level women have seen bias towards other women. 

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Strategies you can take to support women in your organization

So what can you do to support your colleagues in their career growth and success? The first step is to practice awareness. Unconscious bias is hard to avoid. Every human is prone to it. But if you don’t see that there’s a problem, you can’t adjust how you interact with others. This can make the difference between a hostile environment for women, and others, and a thriving workplace where everyone has the opportunity and support to pursue their goals. 

Boost the accomplishments and ideas of women in meetings

There’s a technique called amplification which is designed to bring attention to women in meetings and ensure they get credit for their ideas. While you can and should amplify the accomplishments of everyone, understand that women are more frequently ignored, interrupted, and have their ideas stolen by others. 

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When a woman makes a key point during a strategy or team meeting, repeat what they just said while giving them full credit (“Maria just made an excellent point about limitations in Salesforce.”). This forces everyone in the room to clearly recognize that a contribution was made and prevents others from internalizing the idea as their own and speaking up to take credit. 

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Eight practical tips for supporting your colleagues 

1. If someone interrupts your colleague during a meeting while she is sharing insights, giving feedback, or challenging assumptions, speak up. Say, “I’d like to hear what she has to say first before you jump in.” 
2. If you hear something sexist (or racist, homophobic, or otherwise prejudiced) say something. Women leaders have their authority cut down when men call them “bossy” or “aggressive” while their male counterparts are called “confident” and “assertive” for the same behavior. Openly question the motives behind such statements and ask the speaker if he would feel the same way if a male leader were involved.
3. Encourage self-promotion and amplify accomplishments. Send out an announcement about a female colleague’s (or anyone’s, really) amazing work closing a deal, fixing a major workflow blockage, or deploying new, desperately needed software. Let them know that they weren’t just lucky – they have the skills and abilities to excel. 
4. When it comes to mistakes, don’t allow people to put the blame on the women of the team (yes, this happens). Make sure that credit is given where due and mistakes are tackled as a team learning experience and not unfairly attributed to one person.
5. Take a hard look at your mentorship structure. Are senior-level men and women unintentionally supporting more junior men than women? If this is the case, leaders need to take responsibility and make a direct effort to support mentees from diverse backgrounds.
6. When someone on your team comes up with an innovative marketing campaign, closes a difficult sale, or implements a change management strategy successfully, have them present their work to the company or board – don’t do it for them. Otherwise, you will get the credit for someone else’s hard work. 
7. Ask for honest feedback and be truly willing to learn. You might find out that you’re failing the women in your team by not speaking up for them when they aren’t around or allowing others to take credit for their work. No one can do everything right, but we can all grow and improve. Ask the women on your team for their experiences, take allyship courses, and hold yourself accountable. 
8. Avoid putting your employees or colleagues into unsafe or uncomfortable situations involving alcohol. Live by the phrase, “Nothing good happens after midnight.” Instead of an open-ended team celebration at a bar after work, which can lead to sexual harassment, plan other activities like volunteer events, lunches, or even mini-golf.

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Tackling unconscious bias

It’s called unconscious bias for a reason. We don’t know we’re doing it. The only way to overcome this human limitation is to take responsibility for our actions and make supporting women in our organizations a personal initiative. Be open to feedback from women on your team and across your company. Proactively participate in bias and allyship training and speak up for women – both in meetings and when they aren’t around. 

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