A Guide to Allyship, Part 2: Education and Engagement
PART Two, THE second step in allyship, is beginning to educate yourself and start getting yourself involved.
Now that you’ve had the opportunity to reflect and realize the importance of allyship, we suggest that you deepen your education and put yourself in a position to engage. There’s still so much to learn about how to be a good ally, but we hope these resources can give you a place to start. We hope you enjoy part two and find these resources as helpful as we do.
Educate yourself.
Allyship is an especially hot topic right now. It is so helpful that there is already an abundance of expertise and data available to learn from. Here are some of our favorite sources:
Suggested search phrases you can use to find a wealth of information:
“Advancing women in the workplace”
“Women in male-dominated industries”
“Men as allies”
You can have information sent organically to you by following female designers’ accounts and hashtags like #womeninid on social media.
Sign up for updates from organizations like this one! Others to take note of are IDSA Women’s Special Interest Section and Female Design Council.
Check out archived content and replays from Women in ID events like the IDSA Women’s Deep Dive this past October.
Check out content from Advanced Design, which gives platforms to women in ID.
Keep up on sources that track data on gender in ID, like Coroflot, Design Census, and The Design Council.
Add podcasts that cover topics of women in the workplace, diversity, gender equity, and design. A few we recommend: 99% Invisible, Exploded View, Push & Play, Context, HBR Women at Work.
Take unconscious bias training. Here is a virtual course from EdX.
Screenshot above from the Autumn 2020 via. IDSA Instagram IDSA Women’s Deep Dive 2020
If you’re looking to jump into a rabbit hole of searching and learning, here are just a few links to start:
Catalyst Research Synopsis: Women in Male-Dominated Industries
Havard Business Report: Men as Allies: Engaging Men to Advance Women in the Workplace
Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
A great way to further what you have learned in your self-education is to find a woman in ID you trust to discuss and ask questions.
WIID Chicago Board Member & Lead Blog Curator and Industrial Design Senior Manager of the Baby Divison at Newell Brands, Lea Stewart, has a male colleague, Jason Kehrer, that did this recently. He told her that he bought the book “Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace” from the Harvard Business Review Press. It allowed her to suggest that they discuss what he thought about the book after he read it.
A really great way to engage is to ask for feedback on your behavioral blind spots. You could express to a woman in ID that you are wanting to be a better ally and ask for her feedback on things you may not be recognizing. Being open to constructive criticism on your allyship ultimately helps everyone in the end.
It’s also important to keep in mind that women in industrial design, and other minority groups in general, shouldn’t be the only ones responsible for educating everyone on what they can do better. Allyship requires doing some legwork, in the beginning, to take some of the burdens off of others.
Get over your fear of getting it wrong.
It is going to take practice. The first time we talk about these things is going to be uncomfortable. The more we do it, the more normal it will become. Get comfortable being uncomfortable.
If there are groups or events at your workplace to support women, join in and be an ally for support. There’s no harm in making an effort.
Joining a women’s employee resource group event is a great way to connect with people you work with. If a group is in its early days of forming or if it’s a small group breakout, it could be good to give the women time to build that safe space with each other. Evolved groups, however, are more likely to be comfortable with each other, and the dynamics will be less likely to change if men join.
The risk is low of changing the dynamic, and if we all trust that everyone is there with good intentions, it just becomes a more inclusive, safe space.