International Women’s Day: Together, we break the bias

In honor of International Women’s Day, ServiceNow is joining people all over the world to recognize the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. This year’s theme, “Break the Bias,” invites us to call out gender bias, discrimination, and stereotyping when we see it in the workplace and across our broader communities.

We invited ServiceNow employees around the globe to share their experiences and ideas to help break the bias against women.

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Finding your voice

Senior Financial Analyst Michelle C. says she has experienced both gender and racial bias throughout her career. One incident that sticks out to her is a public speaking training session she participated in shortly after joining ServiceNow.

One of the trainers, a Caucasian male brought into the program from a third party, told her, “You should speak louder because you’re an Asian woman.”

Her first reaction was shock. “I didn’t know what to say. I don’t even think I said anything,” Michelle recalls. The experience affected her so much that she decided to join another public speaking workshop to overcome this feedback.

This time around, Michelle received completely opposite feedback from a Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) female instructor. “She said it doesn’t matter how loud or soft you are. The most important thing is the connection you have with your audience and the meaning behind your content.”

This advice gave Michelle the validation she sought and shattered the bias she had of herself—not being loud enough in public speaking because she’s an Asian woman.

Building allyship 

International Women’s Day is not just for women. “I think it’s very important for men to be allies and to have conversations at both a personal and a professional level,” says Terence C., vice president of customer and industry workflows at ServiceNow.

Terence witnessed firsthand how the pandemic impacted the female members on his team. “We had a team meeting, and we were talking about burnout. It became uniquely clear that our women team members were carrying a substantially larger load for caregiving for their children, who were in a disrupted school situation.”

To build allyship, Terence is taking a personal approach and having one-on-one conversations with his female colleagues to better understand their experiences. “For me, it's just appreciating that person as a human and as a team member and wanting to do whatever is necessary to help them be successful,” he says.

“If you start with that, I'm pretty sure you can figure out what good allyship should look like.”

Run to the fire

Throughout her career, Anita M., director of IT applications delivery at ServiceNow, has been very vocal about the importance of enhancing skills. “I always say, ‘Run to the fire. Don't run away from it.’ I would rather run to the fire, get burned, learn, and then come back. That learning can be anything.”

That “anything” can even be in the form of mentorship. Anita recognizes the Women at Now Belonging Group for giving women and their allies the opportunities to ask for, take, and give women the help they need to build strong support systems.

“ServiceNow has been giving us such a beautiful platform to express ourselves, to do better, to innovate, to grow, and to transform. So, why wouldn’t I be optimistic?” she says.

Anita’s mission is to make the world a much better place than it was yesterday. She believes wholeheartedly she’s doing that simply by elevating her voice and sharing her stories with the world.

Hear more of these employees’ experiences in this short video:

We hope you’re as inspired as we are at the opportunity to advance women’s equality. Let’s join together around the globe to learn, grow, and thrive—not just today, but every day. We have the power to make change and to break the bias.

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