The PurposeGirl Podcast Episode 059: Bias in the Workplace

Today I’m joined by Andie Kramer, a partner in the international law firm McDermott Will & Emery LLP. Andie has mentored thousands of women and written hundreds of articles and blog posts on gender biases, and is co-author of the ABA guide, “What You Need to Know About Negotiating Compensation.” According to Andie, even the most well-intentioned workplace is biased, because the leadership is almost always men, and usually white men, and they (like most people) have affinity bias, which is an affinity for people who look and act like them and come from the same background. Add to that gender bias and you get an environment in which women are put into a very difficult position. Andie also addresses the interesting dynamic of women having gender-biased expectations of other women -- this isn’t only bias on the part of men – and why this is too often a reality. Andie discusses the fact that when men receive feedback at work it tends to be about things they can improve, but a majority of the feedback that women receive at work is about their personality, as if there’s something wrong with her. Andie talks about some of the things that women can do, that men can do, and that organizations can do to combat bias in the workplace.

To learn more about Andie Kramer, go to https://andieandal.com. You can get Andie’s first book, Breaking Through Bias: Communication Techniques for Women to Succeed at Work (https://amzn.to/2VqJ3DJ), and pre-order her second book, It’s Not You, It’s the Workplace: Women’s Conflict at Work and the Bias that Built It (https://amzn.to/2Dygc6i), at Amazon. Also, Andie recommended the book Fly Girls, which you can get at Amazon (https://amzn.to/2GFTYRN) as well.

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May you live purposefully, may you love yourself, and may you love life.

Bye for now!