When I say 'gender equity', you hear 'women's rights'

Tina Rahman

HR Habitat

HR Consultant

When I say 'gender equity', you hear 'women's rights'

❌ But gender equality isn’t just a women’s issue. It's concerns all leadership.

We’ve worked so hard to get women into leadership roles…

That we’ve stopped asking what actually happens once they’re there.

↳ She’s told to “build confidence” before stepping up ➡︎ He’s given a stretch project before he’s ready

↳ She’s asked how she’ll juggle it all ➡︎ He’s praised for being ambitious with a young family

↳ She’s expected to soften her tone to be heard ➡︎ He’s expected to harden his tone to be respected

↳ She’s assumed to be emotional under pressure ➡︎ He’s assumed to be overworked or stressed

True gender equity isn’t just about what women aren’t getting - it’s about how both men and women are treated differently within the same systems AND recognising these systems are UNFAVOURABLE to women.

The book I'm currently reading is call The Authority Gap by Mary Ann Sieghart , which beautifully explains and proves the gender imbalance women are suffering to this day.

Mary Anne speaks about the space between what a woman knows and how seriously she’s taken.

And I don’t just talk about this - I see it every week.

Just last week, I reviewed two performance cases for two senior managers - equal job titles, equal length of service.

The man was described as “confident and results-driven.”

The woman? “A bit abrupt and hard to read.”

Same traits. Different framing. Different outcomes.

That’s the authority gap.

It doesn’t show up in policy. It shows up in language, meetings, who’s copied in, and who gets to say “we’re doing it this way.”

So no - gender equity isn’t about favouring women.

It’s about trusting them with equal authority to act, decide, lead.

Because until your leaders are trusted equally -

Your team doesn’t have equity.

It has performance.

Have you seen power shared equally - or just the title?

👋🏽 Hi, I’m Tina, founder of HR Habitat.

I’m tired of HR hotlines, too.

We fix the HR minefields you didn’t know you were getting wrong.

My mission is to embed gender equity into everyday leadership - for men and women alike.

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Tina Rahman

HR Habitat

HR Consultant

Founder of HR Habitat, award winner of "Best HR & Employment Law Consultancy, 2024" title. As featured in BBC Oline, BBC Asian Network Radio, Telegraph & more.