3 Important Ways that Remote Work Can Benefit Women
Our shift to remote work over the pandemic has meant navigating a new environment, which poses its own set of rules for workers. But one dynamic that continues to exist is the gender gap between women and men. Aside from the extra hours of sleep, women benefit from remote work more profoundly than you think.
Let’s dive into 3 ways remote work is helping women tackle gender dynamics in the workplace.
1. Gaining access to more quality opportunities with remote work
The Pew Research Center has found that since the pandemic, women are 1.7 times more likely to be out of work than men; however, remote work has opened the door to job opportunities worldwide.
Now that remote jobs are slowly becoming the norm, women can expand their search from their city to the world. Remote work is, quite literally, going a long way in making job opportunities accessible for women!
By hiring globally, teams can also focus less on geographical location and more on forming a diverse and talented team with the right skill set to get the job done. As a fully remote company, Skippet takes advantage of all the opportunities of an online workplace!
2. Removing physical attributes from the equation
A 2016 study spotted a link between women dressing well and being paid more at work. But remote work is helping women avoid being treated with this bias.
CSR consultant Cecilia LeJeune agrees that remote work can reduce the focus on women’s physicalities, saying that “remote work allows for depersonalization in interactions. Judgments and bias introduced by your look and clothing are erased, which can count as a benefit for a lot of women.”
Going online has surfaced benefits beyond clothing as well: Shelley Benhoff, Author at Pluralsight, explains that “a woman’s presence in person tends to be diminished in comparison to men. But when you’re remote, your physicality isn’t really in the equation.”
3. Using online platforms to voice opinions
One major aspect of gender imbalances in the workplace has been the ability for women to communicate their thoughts without being steamrolled by their male counterparts. But transitioning to remote work has actually helped women express their opinions more freely.
With messaging apps like Slack, some women have found such a platform an easier place to voice opinions – one such woman being Zapier employee Nivedha.
Reducing the gender gap with remote work
While it is by no means perfect, remote work can be a helpful ally to women when it comes to tackling complex gender issues in the workplace. Granted, the issue of workplace gender dynamics is deep-rooted and multifaceted – there remains a mountain to climb to close the gender imbalance between men and women at work. But going remote is helping us identify the vital components of a solution.
Working remotely also poses challenges in terms of exchanging information and staying aligned on tasks, especially when your team is spread out across different time zones. But apps like Skippet offer custom software that can help clarify and organize workflows, making efficient collaboration a breeze.
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