Unconscious bias starts young. We are all guilty of it. By understanding its dynamics, we can get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable and make step changes that will change the landscape of the modern workplace for our daughters' generation. This is a speech I gave for #dads4daughters, a great initiative which asks all fathers of daughters everywhere to pledge to achieve greater gender equality in the workplace – the future workplace of their daughters. http://dads4daughters.uk

1. #dads4daughters
Annie Auerbach
Co-Founder
Gender Equality in the workplace
through the lens of fatherhood

2. WE KNOW THERE’S A PROBLEM

3. There are more men called
John than women leading
FTSE 100 companies

4. Gender pay gap
won't close until
2069

5. BUT WE ALSO KNOW
WOMEN ARE GOOD FOR BUSINESS.
THINGS WILL GET BETTER, WON’T
THEY?

6. NOT WHILE WE FOCUS ON
THE BIG & OBVIOUS
AND IGNORE
THE UNCONSCIOUS & HIDDEN

7. 75% associate man
with work &
woman with
family

8. Children's toy adverts on British TV
analysed in 2015

9. Girls start to see
themselves as less
innately talented
than boys do when
they are only six
years old

10. Fast forward 8 years,
more than one in
three teen girls suffer
from anxiety or
depression
A "slow-growing
epidemic"

11. HOW IS THIS IMPACTING HER IN
THE WORKPLACE?

12. CAREER VERTIGO
After 2 years in the job “women’s aspiration levels drop
by more than 60 percent...with only 16 percent of women
still thinking they can reach executive roles”.

13. Working culture is out of step with
new masculinity
Only 7% of men around
the world can relate to the
way the media depicts
men
1% of men have so
far taken up shared
parental leave

14. WQWE
PROGRESS DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN.
QUITE THE OPPOSITE.

15. 1981
TODAY

16. “When you’re the father of two daughters,
you become even more aware of how
gender stereotypes pervade our society.
You feel the enormous
pressure girls are under to
look and behave and
even think a certain way.”

17. “I've said if Ivanka weren't my
daughter, perhaps I'd be dating
her”

18. WQWE
A NEED TO BE VIGILANT
TO SURFACE THE UNCONSCIOUS
My 3 recommendations

19. 1. We need to think like a dad, and make
the world future-proof for our daughters
As the father of two
teenage girls, I am
extremely concerned
about this kind of
advertising which can
demean women, and
make them ashamed of
their bodies. It is high time
it came to an end.
“
”

20. 2. We need to
make parenting
an asset in the
workplace, not
an Achilles heel
• Tolerance
• Negotiation
• Empathy
• Nurture
• Resilience

21. 3. We need to see diversity as a route to
creativity and innovation

22. 1983 OXO ad
Fatherhood =
• Bread-winner
• Protector
• Stability
• Safety

23. Women over 40 are more
likely to become mothers
than teenage girls for the
first time since World War
ll
35% of households in the
UK have one person living
in them
One in four over 50s have
grown-up children living at
home
The world has changed…
A new context for fatherhood

24. Have Her
Back
Enable her
Collaborate with her
Advocate on her behalf
New role of the father?

25. THANK YOU!
Annie Auerbach, Co-founder
Starling
annie@starlingstrategy.co.uk
@annieauerbach