Dive Brief:

• In Workhuman's recent study on gender-based microaggressions, 32% of women said they're interrupted, 29% have been told they're too emotional and 25% have been told to change in some way to be "taken more seriously."
• Additionally, 29% of women said a co-worker has "mansplained" to them and 28% have had a male co-worker take credit for their idea. 
• Notably, 54% of women surveyed don't feel as if they're being treated differently. In turn, 45% of women and 55% of men surveyed did feel that women were being treated differently in the workplace. Of that group of men, more than a third said women received more acknowledgement from their colleagues and about half said women were given more opportunities than men.

Dive Insight:

Many companies continue to go the extra mile in publicly supporting women. But studies like that of Workhuman indicate a misunderstanding in corporate America regarding what championing women and gender minorities should look like in practice.  

Overall, between 30% and 45% of women surveyed said their employers have been supportive regarding their menopause, birthing process or wedding planning. More often than not, Workhuman reported, employers tend to be neutral, or somewhat or very unsupportive.

In its analysis, Workhuman noted that workplace discrimination is often subtle because it "may not directly affect anyone but the target, making it difficult to identify when it's happening. Even when employees can identify a microaggression or identity-based harassment, they often don't report it. In this study, only 34% said they reported discrimination and 28% of those who reported said their organization did not respond to the report.

"Considering 55% of workers surveyed support organizations that speak out in favor of combatting gender inequities in the workplace, organizations must take workplace discrimination more seriously, or else risk employees leaving for more psychologically safe workplaces," the report said.

While women and nonbinary people aren't the only ones that care for children, they are often thrust into the role of primary caretaker for children. This has led to many women withdrawing from their jobs outside the home to focus on the jobs of teacher, chef, nurse and disciplinarian as a pandemic-era parent. As working from home and learning from home collide, employers can champion women and the like by improving caregiving benefits. This includes amenities such as a child care stipend.

Sometimes, a COVID-19-era caregiving benefit is as simple as allowing for more flexibility, whether that's the option to work remotely or more fluidity in hours. DEI expert Mandy Price wrote for HR Dive that, on top of tweaking work arrangements, companies can pour resources into women-focused ERGs. "Inclusive policies signal to your employees that their well-being is crucial to your company culture," Price wrote in her op-ed. "An innovative and engaged organization is made up of people who believe in the leadership, culture and company that they are a part of."