Feature


Inviting WomenIn


Helen Marshall,Founder of WomenIn, on how a collective focus on a shared problem snowballed into a 650-plus-strong community of women


B


ack in the summer of 2022, I started to pick up on a pattern in some of the conversations I was having, particularly with women across L&D.


here as a definite sense of people wanting to burst out of their proverbial bubbles; to sanity check what they were delivering, gain fresh perspective and simply keep an ear to the ground on new advancements across the learning space. These thoughts usually came from women returning to work after periods of leave, or working in small L&D functions. But no matter their background, one thing was clear: women were craving connection to a wider community. Ever since  first found m oice on social media, I’ve advocated for change, particularly when it comes to gender equality. Even as I conducted my (then) PhD research in Art History in 2013, I had started to pick up on patterns of inequality in university hiring processes (how was it that derees filled ith  omen resulted in a facult that as  male at the time?). I’d never really looked into gender equality before then, but as soon as  did the floodates opened. nce ou see it, you can’t unsee it. It’s both a blessing – and a curse. Back to the matter at hand. d identified


a pattern. here as a clear problem to fi. But how could I help to solve it? I settled on creating something that was ‘good enough’ at the time: a WhatsApp group open to


16 | learnevents.com


those ho identified as omen to connect, learn and share from each other. To my amazement (although in hindsight rather predictably) the group snowballed from a fe members to  irtuall oerniht, and kept on growing. We’ve moved from a single group, to a ‘Community’ on WhatsApp bringing multiple different subgroups together under one title. e no hae oer  members, and counting. At a fundamental level we are one community of 600+ people all pushing for the same thing: to create a space for those who identify as women in the L&D, , , people and education spaces, to connect and share best practices. n the other hand, there are  subroups vital to the culture of the community itself. From the day-to-day chat, to AI, WomenIn leadership, DEI, neurodiversity, wellbeing, coaching, services on offer - and perhaps my biggest surprise - the freelancers group, which is a thriving hub of a community all on its own, there truly is something for everyone.


There’s a systemic issue As rich and as supportive as most L&D and people professionals are, there is an underlying systemic issue when it comes to gender equality both within these spaces and in the workplace more broadly. It’s clear that there are much larger-scale shifts needed in the workplace to combat bias and create truly equitable environments in which everyone can thrive. In 2023, Allbright released their


‘Future of Work for Women’ report, which contains some pretty sobering stats, for instance: 83% of women take on additional unpaid or unrecognised responsibilities at work, like driving diversity initiatives or running ERGs. as well as: 56% of women feel like they need to


perform well or over-achieve for at least a year before they are considered for a raise or new role.


And, perhaps unsurprisingly, growth


potential is flaed as the number one driver for female retention and engagement at work – vastly outweighing compensation, values, work- life balance, enironment, and fleibilit. Reading between the lines, this tells me that companies are missing out on a huge amount of opportunity from their employees by simply overlooking their learning and development potential. As one of our members, Beatrice


. abutaapua,  of he usiness Storytelling Centre, recently commented: “Despite the efforts being done to keep organisations as accessible as possible, many systems still give an advantage to men in the workplace. Because of the systemic approach needed to catch up on this, there needs to be policy and culture


Large-scale workplace shifts are needed to combat bias and create truly equitable environments in which everyone can thrive


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