Batteries Not Inclusive – Why Women are Burning Out Faster and How to Stop It

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is ‘Inspire Inclusion’.

by Alma Sheren, Greenacre Group

There is much currently being done across the housing sector, the UK and the globe to drive inclusion and generate equity. Indeed, WISH’s very own Manging Director Lucy Malarkey and her partner Karen Faulkner have been making exceptional strides across UK workspaces with their trailblazing Positive About Inclusion initiatives over the past year.

And the latest Women in the Workplace survey by McKinsey reports that women’s representation in the C-suite is currently at the highest it has ever been, with an increase from 17% in 2015 when the report first started collecting data, to 28% in 2023. However, it is also clear from the data, which collated information from nearly 300 organisations and ten million people across America and Canada, that there is still a concerning underrepresentation of women of colour across the corporate pipeline.

Here in the UK, a similar ‘broken ladder’ syndrome exists, with the Fawcett Society reporting more institutional racism, discrimination and entrenched negative workplace cultures towards women of colour than any other demographic, which holds them back and prevents them from fulfilling their potential.

And it appears that women of every cohort across the globe continue to face engrained bias and entrenched behaviour, which leaves us at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to fulfilling our professional potential.

Less time to recharge and more time being judged

An inclusive workplace must fundamentally reflect an inclusive society if it is to be fit for purpose. And here’s the rub – women are still facing stark inequity when it comes to the time and energy we are able to spend on our careers due to “time stress”. This phenomenon, coined by researchers from Harvard Business School, suggests that due to societal expectations and entrenched behaviours, women are continuing to juggle more familial and domestic responsibilities than men with their professional workloads, and yet are less likely to request extra time to complete work tasks. This is due to a belief they will be penalised more than others and judged more harshly. And not without good reason.

A number of studies have shown that women continue to be judged with more bias than their male counterparts across every level in the workplace. A recurring theme among many of these studies includes women being perceived to have spoken too much or ‘dominated’ the conversation, when in reality, they had spoken for only half, or more commonly, less than half the time their male counterparts had spoken.

One particular study cited in Management Today found that it was only when women made up 80% of a group that they spoke for a proportionate amount of time. WISH’s own President Tracey McEachran also highlighted this phenomenon through her #HearHerVoice campaign, and has been breaking down barriers across the housing industry since the start of her presidency by raising awareness and sharing inspiring stories of women across our workspaces – in fact everywhere that women still struggle to speak out.

Further concerning research has uncovered that women of colour are often perceived as more ‘angry’ than their white counterparts, and often feel they have to mute their feelings, speak less or be ‘extra smiley’ so as not to encourage unconscious bias.

And whilst female CEOs perceived as ‘talkative’ are seen as less competent, it’s apparently the opposite for men. The perception that women, including women in the boardroom and in top positions, should not have an equal voice, reflects the way women and girls are still perceived across wider society, and the roles and behaviours they are continuously expected to take on, despite evolutionary cultural strides designed to set out an equal playing field.

Ready to burn

And to be frank, who would not feel burnt out by these continuing misconceptions, expectations and barriers? Unfortunately, these biases will not simply iron themselves out (pun intended). However, by continuing to trailblaze by raising more awareness, driving more initiatives such EDI diagnostics and bias training across our workspaces, and raising our voices even louder (sorry not sorry chaps), we can push the boundaries and set the workplace on fire! (not literally though, that would be arson and possibly frowned upon).

Throughout history, women have historically been on the burny end when it comes to finding our voice - I mean, let’s not even get started on the whole witch-hunt thing. But to truly embed inclusion across our workspaces, we really have to get to bottom of why burnout exists in relation to gender bias - and the only way to do that is to continue to speak up, speak out and speak on.

Happy International Women’s Day to all the loud and proud women, who continue to speak out on behalf of those who don’t have a voice. You rock!