Gender Equality at Work from the Inside Out
Gender Lab: A deep dive into gender equality starts
How do we as individuals and organisations fully practice and embody gender equality? This was the calling question for the participants of the first-ever Social Innovation Lab on gender equality designed and hosted by collaboratio helvetica in Switzerland from 2017 to 2018.
Gender Dialogue Spark Workshop
With my sleeves rolled up I arrived at our first retreat, together with 20 other individuals representing different genders, ages and sectors, ready to mingle with colourful post-its and markers to brainstorm our way into innovative solutions. Little did I know what a profound personal and professional journey I was about to experience.
Not what I had imagined
To our astonishment, we were invited to slow down and deliberately not take any action. (With all there is to do?!)
The first task was to become masterful listeners and observers of the current status quo of gender equality in Switzerland and in our own lives. We interviewed people with opposing views to ours, talked to experts from the field and discussed everyday gender (in-)equality experiences with neighbours, teachers and friends. It was refreshing to simply listen (for once), without having any agenda in mind.
During the lab retreats (4 intensive weekends distributed over a 9-month-long period) we shared our observations and were invited to reflect deeply on our personal assumptions and experiences of what it means to be a man, woman, queer or non-binary person. It was an unusual and uncomfortable, often highly emotional, but also an exciting and eye-opening experience.
What did I learn?
I was shocked to realise how much I was involved in maintaining a certain status quo of a patriarchal system which I blindly thought I was fighting against. I realised that I am part of the system and hence contributing to the problem. This was key to acknowledging that I am also part of the solution.
Gender is personal, complex and emotional. Therefore, the sole implementation of tools and training programs to address structural inequalities are not enough to achieve lasting personal and societal change.
People are keen to share their experiences and open up when they feel that someone is genuinely interested in their perspective. Hence, deep listening is key.
A Spark for Change in Organisational Cultures
Over the course of the lab, those learnings resulted in empowering me. I discovered that instead of coming from a gender expert perspective, trying to change something inside an organisation, I had to work with this topic from the inside out, first changing something within me in order to invite others to address the issue differently too. I gained a renewed sense of responsibility and motivation to influence change through who I was and how I acted, as well as through my capacity to listen to others. Above all, I wanted to implement the approach of Theory U, the core methodology of the Gender Lab, into the work I was doing on gender equality within organisations.
Inside Out Approach
With my prototyping team, I co-developed a workshop prototype called “Gender Dialogue Spark” to shift the working culture towards lived inclusion. The format is based on Theory U and uses deep listening, dialogue and creativity as core approaches to address gender equality at work. We focus on awareness-based transformation, providing a space where employees can gain new perspectives and establish a personal connection to gender equality within their working culture. In this way, what is really going on can come to the surface and commitment to change is generated. From an inner shift, outward changes become clear and the developed gender equality action plan of the organisation can be genuinely owned by the concerned parties.
In my current role as a Catalyst on Gender Equality (SDG 5) I am happy to develop this exciting project further with the support of the Federal Office for Gender Equality.
What’s next?
In the coming months, I will publish portrait interviews with Gender and D&I leaders across sectors to share their perceptions on equality and inclusion. We will also deliver this workshop in a variety of organisations and experiment with different formats. If you would like to know more, work in partnership with us or experience the workshop and our approach firsthand, reach out! We are always open to explore possible synergies because collaborations are vital to create a reality where everyone can benefit from the full potential of equality and inclusion. Together, we can co-create the Switzerland we want to live and work in!
Blog post written by Anna Krebs
Enabling ripples of positive change
Catalyst for SDG 5
Facilitator & change-agent