Gender equality has been a popular topic for years, with many companies striving to provide equal opportunities and resources for every gender. However, the reality is that not everyone starts from an equal playing field, and a "one size fits all" approach to equality is no longer effective. This is where gender equity comes in and plays a crucial role in achieving true workplace equality.

Gender equity involves identifying individual circumstances and providing the necessary resources and opportunities for an equal outcome. While gender equality focuses on providing equal opportunities for both men and women, gender equity goes a step further by ensuring fair treatment for all based on their specific needs and requirements. This means addressing systemic discrimination that has held individuals back from reaching their full potential.

Equity in workplaces

Equity in workplaces and societies identifies every individual’s circumstance and assigns the ideal number of resources and opportunities required for an equal outcome. Now, how different is gender equality from gender equity?

While gender equality means women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities, and opportunities should not depend on whether they are born male or female, gender equity focuses on the fairness of treatment for all based on their requirements. Regarding opportunities, we should ensure that the chances are not limited based on gender, and there should not be any gender bias to ensure economic results benefit everyone. Equity often involves adopting interventions and measures to compensate for systemic discrimination that has been going on for years and has restrained individuals from reaching their full potential.

Even when several companies strive for gender equality in workplaces, equity is the next phase we should consider. While we are all aware of the opportunities that are on the dashboards bringing up gender hiring and equality, we need to think about what it is as a company that we can do.

Gender equity become the means to gender equality

As gender equity is about fairness, it’s no less than a catalyst to bridge the gap between gender bias and reality and eventually achieve gender equality. It is difficult to achieve equality when we do not consider the various circumstances from which an individual comes. This is because every individual is inherently different and often faces cultural barriers and potential discrimination.

With gender equity, we are trying to create a more inclusive environment where the goal is to ensure that the most oppressed group has access to the same achievements and resources.

Juggling between multiple roles PERFECTLY is an expectation but providing them with operational support and solutions could be an ideal resolution to thrive on.

While we all need to achieve our organisational goals, we can support these by giving more time, continuous coaching, and emotional strength that could ensure confidence for every woman in the workplace. 

In conclusion

Gender equality is incomplete without gender equity, as the former paves the way for the latter. Hence, it’s essential that we change the narrative. Rather than focusing on the genders, we should focus on fixing the system to ensure that opportunities at all levels are available to both genders. The approach towards gender equity may be complex in practicality, but with the advent of technology and progress in society, it is no less than an achievable goal. We generally ask for people around us to acknowledge that life is not just a women’s responsibility but to join hands to build a society with fairness. But let’s begin this with our friends, colleagues, teammates, children, and parents to extend equity for all phases of life.