TOP TIPS FOR WOMEN – WHITNEY SIMON, DEI LEAD, PEOPLE LIKE US
5 ways women can navigate (and challenge) the workplace
These tips are written for women navigating workplaces that were not always designed with them in mind. They are practical, but they are not the full picture. Sustainable progress works best when individuals and organisations move forward together, when women have strategies to advocate for themselves, and when the people and systems around them create the conditions for that advocacy to actually work.
- Track your impact and notice patterns
Keep a record of your work so you can advocate for yourself clearly. Also look for patterns, not just one-off moments. If your ideas are overlooked or your work is credited to others, that matters. These patterns often reflect broader biases, particularly for women of colour, disabled women, and working-class women, and are not simply about individual performance. - Build sponsorship and recognise how it works
Sponsors who advocate for you can make a real difference. Build relationships with people who value your work and keep them informed. At the same time, sponsorship often follows familiarity and bias. Who gets advocated for and who does not is often shaped by intersecting identities, not just merit. - Look at how decisions are actually made
Knowing promotion criteria is useful, but so is understanding how they are applied. Ask who is progressing and whether it is consistent across different groups. “Neutral” standards often favour particular norms around communication and leadership that do not work equally well across different cultural, class, or disability contexts. - Use collective approaches carefully
Raising issues together through networks or formal channels can be powerful. But risk is not shared equally. Those in less secure roles or from marginalised backgrounds often face higher stakes. An intersectional lens helps make these differences visible and can shape how collective action is taken on more fairly. - Protect your well-being and set boundaries
Support networks and rest are important. But not everything should be managed through personal resilience. Microaggressions, code-switching, and the pressure of representation are shaped by workplace culture. These pressures often accumulate most for women facing multiple forms of marginalisation, and require organisational, not just individual, responses.
Pledges for Businesses
Pledges for Allies
