A friend recently told me, “The system is the problem — we don’t need to fix women, we need to fix the system to create a workplace that’s fair to women.”
It wasn’t the first time I’d heard this. People who are passionate about gender representation in the workplace hear this argument all the time from both men and women.
I find this premise flawed on many levels. Let’s start with the first part, “fixing the system.”
Fixing the System
Systemic challenges persist even today and are often deep-seated. Our institutions, policies, practices, and societal beliefs still have room for improvement, particularly when it comes to women in the workplace. Women often encounter external barriers — having their abilities questioned, being overlooked for promotions despite excellent performance, and having their opinions dismissed. The system is a problem, and I’m fully aligned with the idea of calling it out.
My issue lies with “fixing the system” being our main strategy to solve the problem.
Fixing the system is a long, slow process
Even when people are fully committed to improving gender representation in the workplace, changing the system is difficult. We must set up the right policies and structures, improve transparency and accountability, and create a safe environment that allows for open, respectful dialogue — and that’s just the easy part. The hard part involves changing people’s mindsets.
Getting people to first see that there is an issue with the system, by addressing thinking like, “I don’t think women have it harder, it’s the same for everyone.”
Convincing people that it’s in their interest to fix the system requires addressing what’s in it for them without threatening their position.
Getting people to make it a big enough priority for them to give it their attention. This involves addressing thinking like, “I have so much going on already. Yes, I care for gender equality and poverty and war victims and so many other things, but I don’t have the time to attend to everything.”
Getting them committed to taking action, assigning the needed resources, and actually doing their part to improve the system.
It’s a long process — if it even works. Recent research shows that, unfortunately, the results we hoped to see from such efforts are simply not panning out.
For example, unconscious bias training has been shown to further normalize bias — “Oh, most people do this? Then I’m not so bad after all, it’s just how it works.” — and strengthen stereotypical behaviors. Such initiatives have also been shown to make people defensive and trigger negative responses, bolstering an “us vs. them” mentality.
Yet, going back to our main premise, even if all this worked, it would take us decades (if not centuries) to fix the system. What about women who are right here, right now, striving so hard to make a career for themselves? What about companies with targets to retain and advance women who are currently in the pipeline?
These women and companies need far more urgent solutions than waiting for the system to be fixed.
Giving women the tools to navigate the system is a lot more effective
When we only focus on fixing the system, we cling to the age-old notion that the best way to help a woman is by fixing things for her, just like in fairy tales: there’s the fire-breathing dragon, the high-towered castle, the evil witch, and we need to fix all of this to rescue the woman.
What if we instead gave the woman the tools to navigate those challenges like a champion and be successful herself? What if every woman had the tools to slay the dragon, shatter the castle, and befriend the witch? Imagine how much more progress we could make as a society!
When women have the skills to develop allies, get buy-in for ideas, handle interruptions, make their voices heard, etc., they can be far more effective in overcoming the persistent, daily challenges they face. Rather than powerlessly waiting for the system to be fixed, it gives women a sense of agency in achieving better and faster results for themselves.
The more successful women we see, the faster the system will change
In any company, when the first few women knock on the door to ask for a promotion, their cases may get dismissed with reasons like “she’s not ready,” “she lacks executive presence,” or “she’s not a leader.” However, when there are more examples of successful women, people’s perceptions evolve, making it easier for the system to promote more women.
To change the system, we must ensure there are more women within it. If we wait for the system to change before this happens, we’ll be waiting forever.
While the system needs to be fixed, let’s not make it our only strategy. Women are one of the most powerful protagonists in our efforts to improve gender representation in the workplace and shouldn’t be relegated to a passive, powerless role, but equipped to tap into their power and drive change for themselves.
This brings me to the second part of the premise, “fixing women.”
Fixing Women
Companies routinely send employees to leadership development programs to help them become more effective. They cherry-pick high-performing employees to develop into future leaders, and the employees feel rewarded. However, leadership development for women is infamously framed as “fixing women”.
When people say that a leadership program for women tries to “fix women,” it’s like we’re saying there’s something wrong with women that needs fixing. It’s unfair and downright misleading. We routinely send men to development programs, but never call it “fixing men.”
Men and women both have strengths and challenges. Research shows that these strengths and challenges tend to be unique and different, which is why diversity works.
Acknowledging that women also have challenges doesn’t take away from their abilities. Building awareness and working to improve ourselves every day is key to success in the long run, but when we call the process of improving women “fixing” them, it puts women in a tough spot.
Managers may worry about how they look if they send women to development programs, and women may hesitate to sign up because they don’t want to be seen as needing to be “fixed.” As a result, women are deprived of the opportunity to build the tools they need to navigate their challenges and make the most of their abilities.
Leadership programs are never about fixing people. They are about developing people to become more effective leaders.
Let’s banish the phrase “fix women.” Instead, let’s call leadership development for women exactly what it is: leadership development.
Neeta Murthy About the Author: Neeta Murthy is the founder and CEO of Rekindle, a one-year development program designed to help mid-level professional women build essential skills to excel and advance to the next level in their careers.
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