Avoiding Professional Pitfalls

Why is it that even in industries dominated by women employees, men rise to the top of the most prestigious and influential organizations? One answer is career escalators. “Career escalators” points to the practices, structures and norms that move a person upward in their careers. However, as research by many, including Prof. Christine Williams shows in her research, “glass elevators” are hidden advantages for men to advance in women-dominated fields. As Cathleen Clerkin, PhD reveals, a broad look at nonprofit workers reveals a slight advantage for men in leadership. Women represent about 70% of employees yet only 62% of leaders. The real gap, however, shows up when you look at size of the non-profit, as measured by revenues. Men nonprofit CEOs oversee nearly twice the revenues as women (~$11M vs. ~$6M). And men CEOs earn on average +27% more than women CEOs. Having worked with many nonprofit boards on their hiring practices, bias is a concern in recruiting CEOs and board directors. Preference for the “think leader, think male” can give an implicit advantage to White men, resulting in disadvantages or de-accelerators for women and BIPOC men. Often those concerns are expressed in donor networks, strategic thinking, vision and public persona -- all of which are important and yet the evaluation of who can do them can be fraught with biases. What can you do? The author suggests many important strategies. ✔ Check for biased language and treatment in the hiring process.  ✔ Track demographic data.  ✔ Be transparent about pay.  ✔ Create clear career matrices.  ✔ Have explicit conversations about career goals.  ✔ Sponsor women and give them challenging opportunities. When we make these often invisible accelerators visible--and work towards creating clear, equitable and transparent access to them--we can come closer to achieving our intention of creating remarkable and inclusive organizations.  Research by Candid. Article published in Harvard Business Review.

Please stop telling your recruitment partners that "it'd be great if you could find a woman for the team". ❌ Instead, start doing the following... ✅ Evaluate your sales culture. If it's feels like a "boys club", it is. Fix it. ✅ Analyse the language you are using. Gendered wording of job advertisements signals who belongs and who does not. "Masculine- worded ads reduced perceived belongingness [among women], which in turn lead to less job appeal, regardless of one’s perception of their personal skill to perform that job." - Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, January 2011 - (🔗 Link in comments.) ✅ Provide workplace flexibility A 2023 study conducted by the University of Oxford’s Well-being Research Centre found that when it comes to fostering a positive working environment, reducing stress, and boosting employee resilience, flexibility is one of the most effective elements required to create a healthy work-life balance. The findings correlate with a separate study which found that post-pandemic, 72% of women are prioritising purpose and balance at work, and are looking for the flexibility that facilitates this. (🔗 Link in comments.) ✅ Build an infrastructure and culture of coaching and support. The opportunity to be coached by other women (both internal and external) goes a long way in not only developing existing staff members, but also in attracting new talent. (Bonus point: ensure your interview processes are as gender diverse as possible. You can't be what you can't see.) ✅ Implement gender-neutral and diversity-inclusive policies. Offer gender-neutral parental leave policies to prevent issues like absence visibility, project loss, and early return pressure. In my experience, the Nordics lead the way in gender-equitable parental leave policies, for example. ✅ Address any existing gender pay gaps. It's 2024... This shouldn't even have to be a point. I'm a recruitment & search professional. I'm not a DE&I specialist. But I really hope one day the conversation changes from "it'd be great if you could find us a woman" to "we have awesome diversity in our team because...". Women in sales & those of you in gender diverse businesses - what else would you add? LP ✌️ Pack GTM | SaaS Sales Recruitment in Germany #sales #hiring #careers #startups #recruitment 

"If she returns…" That statement is among the allegations that Chloe Koprucki makes against her former employer, Broadridge Financial Solutions, in a just-filed sex discrimination and FMLA lawsuit. In sum, Koprucki claims that the company "mommy tracked" her after her return from maternity leave. The "mommy track" refers to the unspoken career path many working mothers find themselves on, where they are passed over for promotions or opportunities because of assumptions about their priorities or commitment. High-profile lawsuits by women at companies like Ernst & Young, Jones Day, and others have brought attention to how this practice can create serious legal risks for employers. When employers make decisions based on stereotypes about working mothers — like assuming they won't want to travel for work or can't handle demanding projects — they risk violating anti-discrimination laws like Title VII or state equivalents. Even well-intentioned policies can cross the line if they treat parents differently based on gender or family status. For example, an employer who "helpfully" assigns fewer high-visibility projects to a working mom because they think she's too busy with her kids may be unintentionally derailing her career. Similarly, failing to give fathers equal access to parental leave or flexible schedules can spark claims of reverse discrimination. So how can businesses avoid the mommy-track trap? Here are some practical tips: 1. Make decisions based on performance, not assumptions. Evaluate employees as individuals, not based on stereotypes or personal life circumstances. 2. Train managers. Educate leaders on unconscious bias and how it can influence assignments, reviews, and promotions. 3. Offer equitable flexibility. Ensure policies like remote work or parental leave are equally accessible to all employees, regardless of gender. 4. Communicate openly. Check in with employees about their goals and workload preferences. Don't assume; ask. Creating a workplace where parents (and everyone else) thrive isn't just good for your team; it keeps you out of court. And that's a win-win.

“Quick question” is just a polite way of saying: “this isn’t scoped, but you’ll handle it.” The phrase that silently ruins timelines... If you’re a woman manager, you’ve likely noticed this pattern: “Quick” rarely means small. It means unpriced. And this isn’t just a personal time-management issue. It’s a global execution pattern. PMI reported 52% of projects experienced scope creep / uncontrolled scope changes. And PMI’s global research shows only about half of projects are viewed as successful, meaning a lot of work ends up in “mixed” outcomes or outright failure. So when your work keeps expanding after alignment is “done,” you’re not being dramatic. You’re seeing a known failure mode. In simple terms: Scope creep = Extra work + no clear approval + no adjustment to deadline or effort Why this hurts women managers more: Because the penalty for being “difficult” is real. So many women default to: 📍 absorbing the extra work 📍 smoothing the friction 📍 protecting the relationship 📍 keeping the project moving That looks like leadership. Until it becomes a pattern where you’re the system. Here’s what to do instead (without sounding defensive) 1) Use the “clarify the output” line “Quick question” becomes scope creep when the deliverable is vague. 📍 Script: “Happy to help. What do you want as the output: a decision, edits, or a rewrite?” 2) Install the rule that stops 80% of creep: Add = trade-off Any add-on must change something: scope, time, or resourcing. 📍 Script: “Got it. If we add this, what should we deprioritize to keep the deadline?” This frames you as a leader managing constraints, not a person refusing work. 3) Put change requests through one front door Scope creep thrives in side pings. 📍 Script: “Can you drop this into the project doc or thread? I’m tracking changes there so we don’t miss anything.” 📌 4) Do a “scope reset” early (before resentment) 📍 Script: “Quick reset: since kickoff, we’ve added X and Y. That impacts timeline and capacity. Do we reduce scope or extend the deadline?” This is how you protect relationships: no surprises, no silent suffering. Being “easy to work with” should not mean being easy to add work to. You can be warm and boundaried. Clear and collaborative. Direct and respected. Because the goal isn’t to say no more. It’s to stop letting “quick question” become a quiet expansion of your job. If you’re a manager and this feels familiar, what phrase shows up right before your scope expands? If “quick questions” have been quietly running your week, you’re not alone. I write about patterns like this and how to handle them without sounding difficult. Link in comments.

A project can meet every target and still reproduce inequality. Not because the team lacked commitment, but because some of the most important questions were never asked during design. For example: •Who is expected to participate without compensation? •Who has less access to information, mobility, or decision-making power? •Whose safety risks increase because of this intervention? •Who benefits immediately, and who benefits last? •What assumptions are hidden inside the word “community”? These are not “extra” gender questions but project quality questions. The earlier they are asked, the better the outcomes tend to be, not only for women and girls but also for programme effectiveness overall. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to make these reflections more practical during project planning and proposal development, so I created a simple checklist teams can actually use during design processes. You can access the free checklist here: https://lnkd.in/dbe9k4JW Download it; it might be useful for your next planning session. Save and share! Working on gender-responsive programming or gender & development? Follow for ideas, practical tools, frameworks, and grounded insights! #GenderMainstreaming #ProjectDesign #ProgrammeManagement #GenderEquality #MEL

A few days ago, Sumaya Issah and I came across a dam in our community and started talking about access. This was the same dam we once depended on for our daily activities. Looking at it made me pause and reflect on how, in the development sector, we often measure access too narrowly. Providing a community with water, electricity, or internet doesn’t automatically mean everyone has access. Even in the same household, access is not the same. Who draws water from that dam? Who controls the electricity? Who decides who uses the family’s only phone or device when internet services come in? This is where intersectionality and gender mainstreaming become critical. People live very different realities. Women and girls often face unique barriers compared to men, and even among women themselves, differences in age, religion, ethnicity, education, domestic responsibilities, and economic power affect their ability to truly benefit. If we don’t acknowledge those differences, our interventions risk excluding the very people they are supposed to serve. Take education as an example. Imagine donating books to a school and assuming every child now has “access” to learning materials. On paper, it looks good. But in reality, some students may not be able to read at home because they are caring for siblings, working on the farm, or helping with household chores. Some of them may get time to study, while others are left behind. That is not equal access. This is why interventions must go beyond providing resources. They must create dialogue around gender roles and the division of labour in families and communities. We need to ask questions like: - Who influences decisions in the home? - Who controls the resources? - Who bears the burden of domestic labour? - Who gets silenced, even in the presence of opportunities? These questions remain relevant even when designing interventions just for women, because not all women have the same opportunities, power, literacy, economic independence, and social expectations. They deeply vary. Applying the principles of gender mainstreaming, looking at influence, power, labour, and lived experiences, helps us avoid designing programs and advocating from a place of privilege. Just because we have access to something does not mean those closest to us do. While resources being present can provide access, it’s equally important to understand whether people, especially women, have the freedom, power, and ability to use them fully. Until we understand and design for that, we risk repeating the same cycle of well-intentioned interventions with little tangible impact. #genderanddevelopment #womeninmel #womeninresearch #genderanalysis #communitydevelopment

What took me years to learn about building as a woman founder, so here's the unwritten rulebook I wish I'd had: 👉 Some investors will ask about your marital status before your vision. Now you know who's not worth your time. Filter fast and move on. 👉Some people across the negotiating table will try to bully you. Good. You'll learn to hold your ground in ways most founders never have to. That's not a disadvantage... that's training. 👉Some will assume you're the assistant. Take the meeting notes....then take the deal. 👉Some will credit your wins to your gender and blame your losses on it too. Your outcomes are yours regardless so you might as well aim big. 👉And some (you'll know them when you meet them) will open doors, make introductions, and genuinely bet on you. Remember those people. Seek those rooms. Those are the rooms worth fighting to stay in. I'm not sharing this to warn you. I'm sharing it because I wish someone had told me sooner that this will happen, and you will be okay.

As gender integration becomes a cornerstone of equitable development practice, this document presents a practical, phased manual and toolkit for conducting gender analysis, assessment, and audits in development programs. It does not merely provide instruments—it lays out a structured approach to understanding gender dynamics within communities, projects, and institutions, from initial planning to actionable recommendations. M&E professionals, technical advisors, and project teams are invited to treat gender not as a standalone activity but as a systemic lens through which programs are designed, measured, and improved. Here, gender assessment is not an accessory—it is the foundation of inclusion and effectiveness. – It defines gender analysis, assessment, and audit as distinct yet complementary tools to examine gender dynamics, project responsiveness, and organizational integration – It offers step-by-step guidance on preparation, team assembly, client engagement, desk reviews, tool design, and work plan development – It outlines participatory methodologies for fieldwork including informant interviews, focus groups, surveys, and gender-sensitive tools like activity clocks and SCOR analysis – It provides a rich toolkit of 10 gender analysis instruments for value chains, communication, equity in cooperatives, and organizational audits – It details ethical considerations, interpreter use, note-taking protocols, and techniques for triangulating data in diverse field settings – It introduces structured processes for validating findings, debriefing stakeholders, and developing action plans with gender indicators and responsible parties – It emphasizes the learning dimension of gender studies, recommending internal capacity-building and reflection mechanisms for long-term integration – It includes appendices with templates for scopes of work, activity sheets, and analysis matrices to facilitate replication across contexts Combining procedural clarity with field-tested adaptability, this manual equips development actors to embed gender considerations across the full lifecycle of programming. Each section reinforces gender as a technical, ethical, and strategic imperative. More than a guidance note, it is an institutional blueprint for mainstreaming equity into results, relationships, and resource allocation.

📣 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬: this is your quick guide to applying a practical, low-cost gender lens in project design. As gender equality is not a “component” you add, it’s a lens you apply to everything you design. I’ve been noticing a recurring challenge lately: 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. But here’s the reality: you don’t need a standalone gender budget or a dedicated outcome to design a gender-transformative project. If your organization is committed to gender equality, there are always entry points, you just need to be intentional. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐈 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞: 🔹 Start with questions, not assumptions Ask: Who has access? Who benefits? Who is left out? 👉 𝐴 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑔𝑎𝑝𝑠. 🔹 Design for access, not just participation It’s not enough to include women and girls in numbers. Think about barriers: time, mobility, unpaid care work, digital access, safety. 👉 𝑆𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 (𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡) 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒. 🔹 Integrate gender into existing activities No extra budget? No problem. Embed gender discussions into training content, mentorship sessions, or community engagement activities. 👉 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑠. 🔹 Work with men and boys too Transformative change doesn’t happen in isolation. 👉 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡. 🔹 Use gender-sensitive indicators Even if gender isn’t a formal outcome. 👉 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑠𝑒𝑥-𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 (𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛-𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦). 🔹 Partner Smartly! 👉 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑂𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑗𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑠. 🔹 Be intentional about impact Every project has the potential to either reinforce or challenge inequalities. 👉 𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠; 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠. I’m really curious to hear from 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐘𝐎𝐔: How are you integrating gender into projects that weren’t originally designed for it? #GenderEquality #WomenEmpowerment #EconomicEmpowerment #GenderTransformative