Breaking down the barriers

Today, as we celebrate IWD, I wanted to reflect on where my own organisation, a global engineering company, is in relation to gender diversity.

You'll find us in the air, on land, on the surface and in the depths of the oceans, orbiting the earth and cyberspace too. Inspiring and talented women at Thales are working on incredibly innovative projects including breakthrough technologies for the world's most advanced space missions and delivering a step change in defence against fraud, for example, by supplying the new blue UK passports; these are among the most technically advanced in the world, offering outstanding protection against even highly sophisticated attempts at forgery and counterfeiting.

I see first-hand the gender imbalance within this sector, with only 12 per cent of people working in the industry being female. The issue of gender diversity in the engineering sector stems back to as early as when A-level and undergraduate degree choices are made. Only 23 per cent of A-level physics students are women and women studying engineering and technology as first-degree undergraduates represent only 18 per cent of the total, according to Engineering UK, 2022.

My organisation recognises how imperative a diverse workforce is to achieve its ambitions but acknowledges that gender bias exists, as only around a fifth (21 per cent) of employees are women as reported in the 2022 Gender Pay Gap report.

Psychological assessments

However, Thales is committed to actions to improve gender equality, including the use of psychological assessments and psychometric tools to promote fair and equitable hiring practices, and so boost women's employment and development pathways.

As part of our hiring processes, we use selection tools designed to be a more reliable predictor of future performance than traditional education pathways and past experience alone.

We integrate a structured behavioural competency-based interview, a work samples test and a validated BPS-accredited psychometric tool to guide our decision making, ensuring valid predictors (Sackett et al 2023) are utilised and there is no 'gut feel' creeping into decision making in a male-dominated business.

Using evidence-based psychological assessment methods is key at various levels of the organisation, from hiring early careers engineers to the selection of women in leadership.

As well as this, we help to create a culture and working environment that supports the retention of women; we have introduced and updated a suite of supportive policies, including on adoption & surrogacy, fertility, shared parental leave, menopause and carers.

Ryan (2023) stated that organisations understand that much gender inequality arises from systemic issues embedded deep within their processes and structures and significant to that are the gender stereotypes about men and women.

However, when organisations choose which interventions to best deploy, they can sometimes forget this deeply ingrained systemic issue and focus on trying to 'fix women'.

Smashing gender stereotypes

So what more can occupational psychologists do to help smash these stereotypes and promote gender equality in the workplace?:

1. Be evidence based in the approach you take

For example, challenge your organisations on the criteria they are using to select talent and whether they are valid predictors of success. Does the individual really need 10 years' experience or a degree in maths – what is it about that experience that makes them a standout candidate? Challenge them to think creatively; could a psychology degree, where critical thinking is imperative, be just as useful for systems engineering thinking?

2. Take a systemic approach to change

Focus efforts on fixing the systemic bias inherent in structures and processes rather than fixing women to display typical male traits or to lean into the male-dominated culture.

3. Don't simplify the issue to a 'one size fits all' approach

Commit to a nuanced, not a 'one size fits all' approach, acknowledging women are not a homogenous group and the importance of intersectionality. For example, recognise the impact that the unique experience of women who identify as Black will have. In addition, focus on creating a psychologically safe environment where women trust the organisation to tell them about their experiences in the workplace and take steps to understand their problem, and then co-create meaningful, impactful solutions.

 4. Be an active ally

Warren and Schwam (2022) found that men's allyship actions needed to be visible to women for it to have an impact on their feeling of inclusion. It is not enough to say we are an ally, we need to actively practise allyship through demonstrating positive action and advocacy (Fletcher & Marvell, 2022). For example, our leaders ensure marginalised voices are heard in meetings by being clear with everyone on inclusive ways of working and what the value of diversity is within their team.

5. Evaluate the interventions you deploy

Following the consultancy cycle, it is imperative to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions you decide are most beneficial to your organisation to ensure you can answer questions such as whether the intervention achieved the desired impact and behaviour change?

It takes tremendous effort and support to tackle societal barriers to gender equality but as we all know, a more equal, diverse and inclusive workplace is more likely to be high performing, exceed financial targets, and be more innovative and agile (Deloitte, 2018).

Creating inclusive workplaces is an area I am hugely passionate about, so please get in touch via LinkedIn if you want to continue the discussion and share thoughts and ideas on how we can all strive towards achieving gender equality and accelerate the progress we are making.  

Read more about tackling exclusion in our blog on allyship, also published to mark International Women's Day.