Ways to Support
Are you a supporter of women in voice? It takes a collective effort to help everyone to realize their full potential.
There are many ways to support women in voice. The first way is to empower them to pursue and accomplish their own dreams and goals. Listen to what they say and how it compares to your experiences.
10 Things You Can Do TODAY (For Men & Women)
1. Express Appreciation for the Women Around You:
Women are already rocking it all around the world. They might be your collaborators, your colleagues, your partner, your friend. Tell them how much you respect them and their work.
2. Tell People about Women in Voice!
We’re still new on the scene! We’d love to have women join our community if they are interested.
3. Ask Her How You Can Support Women
If the woman/women around you are open to having a conversation about it, ask how you can better support them. They might have some ideas already or simply appreciate being asked.
4. Nominate Her on Twitter for the Women in Voice List
Are you and she on Twitter? We’d love to showcase her talent. Here’s our Twitter: @WomenInVoice
5. Sponsorship & Community Building
Can you or your company provide support through financial, technological tools, event renting/space/facilities, internships, mentorship, food, swag, or other resources? Sponsorship: Please get in touch at the Contact page.
Do you have a local RLadies, Girls Who Code, Women Who Code etc. chapter in your community? Ask the women around you and feel free to reach out to Women in Voice by contacting us.
6. Planning: Bring Women Into the Picture
Are you hiring soon? Preparing a podcast? Attending a workshop? Think to yourself, will there be women there? Who is on the panel? Talk to your colleagues. Talk to your boss. Who could you bring along? Who could you ask to join you? Need an idea of names of people? Check out the Women in Voice List and reach out to these women. For hiring, ask women if there are people in their network that might know about diverse talent pools. Putting out job postings the same way you always have might be continuing to perpetuate homogenous candidates.
7. Look Around & Do Some Math
What is the percentage of men and women at your work/organization/podcast/conference? What is the percentage of white versus minority individuals? Do these percentages reflect the overall population?
- If the answer is no, then there is more that can be done towards changing those numbers. If the answer is yes, fantastic! You can still support them better though. Seeing that number might be a helpful and objective metric. Other numbers that might be good to consider: Are women paid the same, have comparable job titles, and given the same accolades? Are maternity and paternity leave supported financially at your organization? These might be unseen to you, but women might be very aware of biases in policies.
- Excerpt from: Develop a Diversity Plan (Clifford, 2018) “If you’re a manager, simply saying you want to increase diversity won’t work. You need to plan. Assess where you are and what needs to change. Set specific goals (for example, increase diversity in the design staff by 20% in 3 years). Develop a strategy to make that change. Evaluate regularly to see if you’re meeting your goals.”
- What is a diversity initiative? “A “diversity initiative” is an organization’s strategic response to diversity. The initiative looks at the internal and external needs of the organization in the area of diversity and responds with a strategically aligned approach. Initiatives can have a short or long-term focus, as well as specific goals and objectives. It should also be easily measurable and tied to the organization’s overall business strategy. In terms of implementing the initiative, the entire organization – from the top down – should be held accountable for implementation and the overall success.”
8. Good Intentions are Nice, But They Are NOT Enough
Many studies and few changes over decades indicate that good intentions about equality aren’t good enough to make real, measurable changes.
9. Mentorship
Are you more senior in the field and could support junior women? This is NOT an opportunity for you to tell women you know more than them and express how you are more senior than them. This IS an opportunity for you to use your skills to build women up, help them gain skills, talk them up to your colleagues, and listen to their ideas. Interested in signing up to mentor? We can help to connect you! Contact us!
10. Support Women in Voice!
Feel free to feature our website, Twitter, and LinkedIn Group on your website and express your support. You can put a blurb about how you value women, equality, and diversity at your organization. Make everyone feel welcome.
Read more on Voice and Diversity
Overview Article: Basics of Voice
Check out this overview article by Women in Voice Lead Susan Westwater. She talks about what voice is in the first place and whether it needs its own strategy. She also explains key terms and basic terminology.
Why Is Silicon Valley So Awful to Women?
Tech companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to improve conditions for female employees. Here’s why not much has changed—and what might actually work. By Liza Mundy
10 Steps to Increase Diversity (For Design)
Jacinda Walker often hears “you’re the only black graphic designer I’ve ever met.” She sees why. “I was the only one in college. I was the only one in grad school. I’ve been the only one at work.” By Fast Company
