Jodi Detjen - The next smart step: How to Overcome Gender Stereotypes and Build a Stronger Organization

T ERRY WAS A BRIGHT , CURIOUS CHILD who loved hearing stories about astronauts and outer space while growing up. Other kids built buildings or cars with Legos, and Terry built spaceships, watched every space movie, and dreamed about visiting another planet or the moon.

Terry got a telescope at five years old and used it to make a map of the stars. When friends wanted to learn about planets or constellations or stellar distances, Terry was there. Favorite field trip? The planetarium. Favorite subjects in high school? Advanced placement science and mathand Terry aced it all, learning how to code sophomore year and winning a rover-building contest.

Terrys future unfolded from these interests and strengths: top of the class in college, internship with an aerospace company, and eventually a seat on the Mars exploration team. Smart, confident, hard-working, and dedicated, Terry is now living the dream, paving the way for a new era in space exploration.

Terry, in all likelihood, is a man.

Somewhere else there is another Terrya womanwho also aced her science and math classes. She is equally smart, confident, hard-working, and dedicated. But her college counselors told her she wouldnt have good work-life balance with an aerospace career and she should think about the social sciences instead (advice many women receive). Her friends told her she was weird because she liked math. (Thats not normal for girls!)

But Terry persisted and landed her dream job in aerospace. Or so she thought. There was no seat on the Mars team. From the beginning, some of her work colleagues eyed her suspiciously, assuming she got the job because of affirmative action. They openly challenged her technical abilities, talked over her in meetings, and dismissed her ideas. She was paid less than her male colleagues because she hadnt asked for raises as often as they had, and the organization went along with her reticence. When Terry had a baby, other women told her good mothers raise their own children, and she should prioritize her family. Her boss steered her to an operational role with less travel and critical responsibility. And when she invented a breakthrough technology, management told her she was just lucky, and if she did it again, then they would give her a bonus.

You get the picture. We like to believe that everyone has the opportunity to realize their career dreams. And the first Terrythe male Terrygot that opportunity. Whats more, he might even have expected to have the career he envisioned and probably didnt question that he would be paid what the work is worth. And why not? It is normal for a man like him to have a meaningful career.

The second Terry wants what the first Terry hasa great career. She is willing to work just as hard for it. But even today the odds are stacked against her being as successful as her namesake. Especially if she is a woman of color. Women get blocked so often, they leave organizations and even careers. Or they box themselves in to lower-level jobs or limited contributions. The few who make it through often find there arent women in sufficient numbers to make change; rather it is they who ultimately get changed by the organization.

The Next Smart Step is driven by a desire to turn a wishthat all people have the opportunity to realize their career dreamsinto reality. That women like Terry should have the same expectations and achievements as Terry the man. That gender equityfair treatment for women and men, according to their respective needsmoves from aspiration to actuality. That seems reasonable, right? Maybe you picked up this book because you are a woman who wants a career without barriers. Or maybe youre a man who wants to know how to help change organizations to support women. Maybe youre a leader who has already tried to make change and you want to do more. Or perhaps youve made some honest mistakes and want to learn how not to do that again. Thats great, and we are glad you want to learn.

But gender equity isnt only about fairness: its also about effectiveness for individuals and organizations. Because an organization that does not have equity and that primarily hires and promotes white men at the expense of not just women but people of color and other groups that traditionally lack opportunitysuch an organization is narrowed to one perspective, one type of background, one model of success. And while two men may be somewhat different, they are not nearly as different as a man and a woman would be. So gender equity helps everyone. And The Next Smart Step will show how organizations reap the benefits when employees have many different types of backgrounds, skills, and perspectivescognitive diversityand put that to work for better, more innovative results.

Organizations need womens voices to be part of the conversation. Women make up 50 percent of the population and now nearly 50 percent of the workforce, yet less than 20 percent of top decision-makers. So everyone needs to get better at including women and leveraging the advantage they bring.