Last week, for International Women’s Day, I, alongside Chris—my writing partner, husband, and collaborator in all things life-related—revealed the cover of our forthcoming book, Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation, across all our social media channels. For those who know us well, you’ll know that we share our social media presence with the exception of LinkedIn, where we obviously keep our professional identities separate. On all the other channels, the response was positive, but on LinkedIn, the reaction was amazing! So many people liking, sharing, and commenting that they are looking forward to reading it. We are obviously both grateful for the amazing reception to our latest work, but as the reactions and impressions ticked up, we noticed something interesting. Where the reactions (1,126), comments (21), and impressions (30,000) for Chris’ post were significant, they were quickly overshadowed by those on my post: 1,864 reactions, 55 comments, nearly 50,000 impressions.
This is not intended to be some kind of humble-brag. Recognition for our work is mutually beneficial, regardless of where it comes from. But the difference, particularly because my followers and connections on LinkedIn are just a quarter of Chris’, inspired us to take a closer look at the source of the positive reactions. Our discovery is probably not surprising, but points to a larger challenge that needs addressing: the majority of the reactions, comments, and reposts came from women*.
* Please note any reference to gender in this post is intended to include anyone identifying as a woman or man.
The Power Of Implicit Bias
When Chris and I set out to write this new book, we held no misconceptions that stories focusing solely on women’s roles as leaders would attract a certain audience—and potentially turn others away. Having written about The Feminist City in Curbing Traffic, we are already acutely aware of the implicit gender bias that exists in the mobility sector. It is inevitable that when either of us, but particularly I, post about the inequities in the experiences of women in the city and the industry at large, a well-meaning (or not) man will proceed to explain to me how my post is right, wrong, or requires more nuance. A few have even gone so far as to direct message me, so he can explain in more detail how my post missed the mark. One even sent me his phone number so I could call him; a very presumptuous and wildly inappropriate action for someone I have never met before.
Despite years of research, experience, and becoming an expert on the topic, my authority is continually undermined with mansplaining, questions of the validity of my—well-researched and proven—statements, and disregarding of the points being made, ironically proving my point with their actions. That’s why it was refreshing, albeit frustrating, to read Mary Ann Sieghart’s book The Authority Gap. In it, she explains through research and interviews with women of across all political leanings and professional sectors, how ongoing implicit bias continues to hold women back from being the authoritative voice on any topic.
And this is not a men versus women issue. Regardless of gender, we all have an implicit bias. Think of a boss, a leader, a doctor, a professor, and entrepreneur, and in most instances, the image of a man comes to mind. Look at the most popular authors, filmmakers, actors, musicians, and those receiving the most acclaim, recognition—and money—are men. Women make up more than half of the global population, and yet the media and art we consume, and the authority figures around us are still mainly men. For those women who have broken through the status quo enough to be in a position of authority and leadership, like those we feature in Women Changing Cities, they are continually questioned for their knowledge, experience, and suitability for the role in a way men rarely are. We don’t need to look any further than the current global state of affairs to see how society is willing to put on blinders to the faults of men in leadership in a way that is rarely—if ever—done for women.
Change The Bias By Shifting Our Perceptions
If we know the challenges women face in the authority gap, how can we address it? First and foremost, I suggest reading Sieghart’s book. In it she succinctly identifies the numerous challenges with the current state of affairs, how we got here, but also what can be gained when women are collectively and objectively respected as leaders with authority.
As a starting point, I have identified five ways to begin dismantling the authority gap in our own daily lives:
1 – Value the ideas, opinions, knowledge, and expertise of women
“Just think how much richer we could all be if we used this potential better. Giving women more authority – taking their talents more seriously, promoting them more, allowing them to lead – could hugely boost the world economy.” – Sieghart
Homogeneity in society has never benefitted anyone. When we learn from and value the experiences and ideas of everyone regardless of gender, age, ability, race, etc., everyone benefits. It is why in any stakeholder or public engagement activity, the greatest success happens when a diversity of thought is employed rather than just the loudest voices in the room. This of course requires recognising our individual biases (implicit or explicit) and checking them. We are the authority of our own experiences, and not that of others, so we need to make space to listen and value the experiences of others.
2 – Make space for women’s voices and amplify them
This can be through individual action or collective, but either way, it is an incredibly powerful way to begin changing our idea of who is the authority on a given topic. Individually, this means reading, watching, and listening to the works of women regardless of your own gender. Just as we readily consume the works of men without thinking it is content by men for men, the works of women are equally not explicity for women only, and can broaden your understanding of the world in equally powerful and wonderful ways.
“If half the [people] in our culture have no voice…humanity is only half of what it could be.” – Sieghart
3 – Stop viewing inherently feminine traits as weak
I bristle everytime anyone refers to the work I do around behaviour change, communication, and engagement as soft skills. The inference that the work of showing empathy, compassion, humility, and the ability to listen – all considered inherently female qualities – are somehow not difficult or powerful disregards the incredible strength it takes to look beyond our self and appreciate someone else’s experience. All of these traits can be – and are – characteristics of many of the most successful (and strong) women and men I have met.
“Showing humility…is a good way of leading. It is exactly what a [leader] should be like. The very traits that get us underestimated are the very traits that can inspire.” – Quote from The Authority Gap
4 – Stop asking if this is actually a problem
This is one I can’t stress enough. If people are writing, speaking, and making music and art about it, it’s a problem. One needs only to look around the room in any engineering and planning consultancy, transportation conference, or room of academic professors and the issue of lack of equitable gender representation is staring your in the face. Indeed, more and more women are entering STEM and other sectors, but if the leadership remains mainly male, then the authority gap for women still exists and needs addressing. Not only does a lack of women in leadership limit the knowledge and expertise of the leadership group, the women entering the field don’t have someone to look to who look like them for mentorship as they continue to navigate a very male dominated environment. If we want to change things, women need an equal place at the leadership table. Since this is remains an exception and not the rule in most sectors, it is still a problem, but one we can change when we recognise it and act. Which leads me to point five…
5 – Create gender responsive policies
In truth, the only way to address and then change the authority gap is to take action. This looks a little different everywhere, but can take the form of gender quotas, mentorship and leadership programs for women, and policies for engagement. Quotas can seem like a scary thing, and are often viewed as exclusing someone else in order to meet a required number. In response to this, I challenge you to think of who is being excluded without them. If we team up, hire, mentor, listen to and engage with people based on who we feel most comfortable around, then we are implicitly leaving out those who may challenge us, but ultimately lead to greater results. From the teams we create, focus groups organised, panels at conferences, research teams, the more balanced they are across gender (and age, race, ability…), the more beneficial they are to all of us.
The Next Steps Will Not Be Easy
Despite my deepest wishes, things are not going to change overnight, and as we are already seeing, there will be pushback. Humanity has always been scared of change and the unknown, especially those in power who are afraid to relinquish control. However, history has shown us that every small step and change in the system becomes a signal to a larger shift. The simple act of having a woman in leadership signals to other women and underrepresented groups that they are valued. Indeed, the growing representation of women at all levels in all sectors is because someone, somewhere, forged a path—many of whom you can read about is Mary Ann Sieghart’s book.
Representation for women is definitely better than it was 100 years ago, but with women occupying only 28.2% of management positions in the workplace, the job is far from done. In the mobility sector, we consider engagement activities a success if the respondents and participants resemble the communities where we are working. The same holds true for leadership locally, nationally, and globally. Only when the worlds population is equitably reflected in the seats of leadership, and it is no longer remarkable that a woman is in the role but instead as normal as it being a man, will the gap begin to close.
Until then, each of us has a responsibility to the women today, and the generation of women coming up behind us, to keep working to make space for and value the leadership of women. Together we can #AccelerateAction!
Modacity Creative 
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