A recent study found that listeners (both male and female) are biased against female speakers even if they say the exact same thing as a man.
This can be problematic in day-to-day interactions, but especially in a professional environment where women are trying to get their ideas heard. In meetings and brainstorming sessions, women can get sidelined in meetings or be downright ignored.
As you can imagine, women in the White House faced similar challenges in getting their voices heard and getting credit when they did speak up.
What did the female white house staffers do? They teamed up to develop a strategy.
They used a tactic called “amplification.” When a female staffer had an idea, the other women in the room would repeat it, giving credit to the originator. This reinforced the original point and established ownership, which made it difficult for a male staffer to take credit for the idea.
These women got their ideas heard because of support from other women and their peers.
In fact, Emtrain’s Founder and CEO, Janine Yancey, says it’s vital to have peer engagement when it comes to managing unconscious bias in the workplace.
“People are really sparked, and are motivated to have a dialog, when they see their peers jumping in.”
Peer support and engagement is key to any successful unconscious bias program. To learn more about how to create an unconscious bias program that drives peer engagement and employee buy-in, join our free webinar with unconscious bias expert, Joelle Emerson.