You Should Smile More: How to Dismantle Gender Bias in the Workplace

Summary

From small indignities to unconscious slights, women experience situations at work every day that may seem small or unimportant but that effectively differentiate and exclude them. These are micro-offenses; the small, awkward, or uncomfortable moments that slow-build until the unwelcome environment takes hold and women disengage.

Situations the authors address range from things like use of the term "girl" versus "woman," watching male colleagues leave work for a social event where women colleagues were left off the invite list, or hearing that a qualified woman shouldn't be offered an assignment because she has small children at home. You Should Smile More shows witnesses, allies, supervisors, and women at every level in their careers how to dismantle everyday gender bias, based upon the latest research, personal accounts, and interviews with professionals, both women and men.

Widely known as a meme, the title itself is now a call-to-action against the very advice women so frequently hear from male colleagues or bosses. The authors spotlight these all-too-familiar moments, offering realistic strategies every witness can use to confront and productively address them. The information in this book finally advances women in the corporate workplace as equals and advances organizations on the path to creating cultures of true inclusion.