“I wouldn’t want my son/daughter to experience that when they start work”.

It happens quite regularly and far more often than you would hope but have you ever spoken with a senior executive regarding gender equality and heard the response “I don’t want my son/daughter to experience inequality/sexual harassment/sex discrimination (insert any relevant term here) when they start work”?

Initially when I heard this I thought “wow, this person really gets what inequality is and is committed to making things better”.

But then I thought further:

What makes this person think that those currently  in the workplace need to wait for the senior executives son/daughter to come into the workplace before it becomes better. We might be waiting 15+ years and that’s a very long time.

I have called someone out on this before – I didn’t call them out publicly, I could tell they didn’t realise what this statement is and knew they were genuinely committed to making things fairer but I did decide to call them out in private after their speech.

It was an interesting experience, I asked how old his daughter was (3…) I then asked why he felt others should wait for his daughter to enter the workforce before making changes. I said I understood his intent in saying that and he wanted to see positive change but that it can make those currently in the workforce feel ignored.  What did he think about his wife/mother/sister being in the current workforce and their experiences?

I genuinely think this person had never thought of it that way before – we discussed how power and influence can be used to enhance current workplaces.

It made me realise that those that have influence and power may not fully realise the impact of their words, that they can use their influence now for the greater good of those that are currently in the workplace and perhaps, just perhaps we might not be having this conversation when their child enters work.

Next time someone says “I don’t want my son/daughter to experience sexual harassment when they start work” – I’m going to say “Great, so what can you do now to ensure that doesn’t happen and how can I help you achieve that?”

Author: Sally Woolford