Eradicating Inequality & Discrimination with Market Research

by Tamara Franklin of AYTM

In my previous post, I highlighted several startling facts about inequality and the lack of diversity in the US, which Melissa Gonsalves – Co-Founder & Director, Colour of Research (CORe) & Director of Strategic Insights at Differentology spoke about during her Insighter Virtual Conference session, ‘Equality in an Unequal World.’

Admittedly, the statistics are disparaging and dire. It’s clear that change is needed, but you may be wondering, ‘what can I do?’.

Whether you’re a market researcher, business owner, or corporate professional, we can all do our part to change our reality.

In this post, I’ll break down a few of the different strategies suggested by Melissa, that you can deploy, according to the issue.

Gender Inequality

It all starts by equipping yourself with the facts and educating others to create awareness.

So, look at your organization. Evaluate how many women it has in entry, junior, and senior-level research roles.

Now compound that to your board level. Are your numbers like those seen in Fortune 500 companies? If the answer is ‘yes,’ therein lies the problem.

Now you have identified an area in your company that needs reform. From this point, you start having conversations with colleagues about their views and experiences concerning equality.

If you have a community or equality and diversity officer, you can talk with them, too, and figure out how to promote equality internally.

You can also encourage or work with management to look at your recruitment and internal processes end-to-end to pinpoint and remove discriminatory practices.

This includes assessing your paid maternity leave policy and conducting a salary audit.

Additionally, you can recognize and champion diverse female talent while setting them up for success.

This could be through channels like mentorship schemes or hosting ‘spotlight’ weeks in which you acknowledge and promote your top female talent from different races, genders, and sexualities.

Dedicate time to explaining how discrimination harms the individuals involved and hinders the success of the companies they work for.

When people are sidelined, they’re less likely to give their all to the role. Consequently, they may also pack up their talents and jump ship to competitors who respect their differences and take action to shatter the glass ceilings.

This can skyrocket recruitment costs and skills gaps in your company, which no business wants.