In the early 1990s, Vienna was undergoing a period of rapid growth. The government had set a target of building 10,000 new apartments each year, the Iron Curtain had been lifted, and urban planners were competing to redesign the city. Eva Kail, a district planner in the city's strategic planning unit, knew this was a pivotal moment.¹

Kail was noting the ways that the past had shaped how residents and visitors were experiencing the city 50 years later. Like most post–WWII European cities, Vienna had been designed by male planners for men like themselves who commuted between home and work by car or public transport. There was little to no accounting for other groups.

In 1991, Kail documented the legacy of this design by following eight people—among them a young girl, a wheelchair user, an urban mother, and an active retiree—and photographing their daily circulation. The photos told stories of Vienna residents who constantly adjusted to a city not meant for them. Benches were too few and far between for elderly citizens to enjoy a walk. Sidewalks and doorways into transit stations often weren't wide enough for a mother with a pram. Those carrying groceries had few covered places to rest with bags in the rain, and few streets had enough lighting for women to feel safe walking them at night.

Kail noted that most design flaws negatively impacted pedestrians, but those making trips by car rarely had a complaint. A follow-up survey led to a breakthrough revelation: two-thirds of car journeys were made by men, while two-thirds of journeys on foot were made by women.

The impact the photography exhibition made led to the creation of a new division of the city's strategic planning unit—the Frauenboro, which directly translates to “The Women's Office.” “The Inclusion Office” may have been more appropriate, since the Frauenboro would go beyond gender to create design standards that made urban planning more inclusive for all.

Vienna's city government moved forward with selecting architects to assist with their massive, planned expansion in 1992, and Kail noticed that in 30 rounds of RFPs, no women had even been invited to pitch. She wasn't going to let history repeat itself. As the newly appointed head of the Frauenboro, Kail invited all the women architects she could find to apply.

Kail's female-led team directed a pilot project re-envisioning one of the districts in the city's expansion. A 357-unit housing structure that had been planned for the district would now include pram storage on every floor, wider stairwells for social but safe interactions, and a building height that was low enough to encourage “eyes on the street” visibility from windows—Jane Jacobs's widely accepted technique to discourage crime. Curb heights on this unit's block accommodated a range of mobilities for those transitioning from the bus to their flat.

The success of this pilot drew attention and a new term, “gender mainstreaming,” was coined. The city government voted to expand the method to re-envisioning Mariahilf, a more central neighborhood. New lighting illuminated streets that residents had previously identified as inaccessible at night. A kilometer of sidewalk was widened, and unnecessary barriers were removed to accommodate strollers, the elderly who may have been walking with aids, and those in wheelchairs. Benches were added spaced closer together, and the timing of street lights was adjusted to be more pedestrian-friendly. Facilities for sports preferred by girls, such as volleyball and badminton courts, were added to parks next to the basketball courts, which were already crowded with boys.

Some of these elements of “gender mainstreaming” may seem quaint now, since they were implemented to bridge from a society in which men go to work and women run errands on foot with children. The principles underlying these guidelines, though, could be applied today to make our physical workspaces more inclusive for employees of all genders, mobilities, ages, and backgrounds. Just as sidewalks and parks were difficult to navigate for those who did not design them, our office spaces can feel unaccommodating to those who never see the blueprints.

Without inclusive design practices, even workplaces that seem inclusive in theory can build in bias. For an example, we return to Silicon Valley.

From Open Plans to Closed-Off Realities: The Inclusive Office Design Trend That Wasn't

In the early 2000s, the tech industry took an experimental step toward their vision of a meritocratic workplace: Silicon Valley embraced the open floor plan.

The intentions were egalitarian. Open office spaces would tear down walls and flatten hierarchies. Barriers between the executives and the rank and file would be eradicated! Without calling it a DEI initiative, equity and inclusion seemed central to this new approach.

From the outside, the spaces seemed to encourage movement and collaboration, giving employees more room to breathe, to be human. Traditional offices that fragmented the team became airier, light-filled spaces for all employees. For some groups, though, tearing down walls unintentionally created even higher barriers to advancement.

In a study conducted to explore how transforming workspaces transforms culture, researchers Alison Hirst of Anglia Ruskin University and Christina Schwabenland of the University of Bedfordshire discovered that these new wall-less realities improved the office experience for some, but limited interaction and focus for many, especially for women.²

The researchers had no intent to focus on gender. Analyzing the behavior of over 1,000 employees, though, repeatedly surfaced the same observations from women: Being on display made them feel more harshly judged for their appearance and emotions, and they were more vulnerable to around-the-clock interruptions.

One of the goals of the open floor plan was to promote movement and collaboration between departments. Hirst and Schwabenland found, however, that women avoided walking to parts of the floor that were predominately male. Previously, visiting these parts of the office space meant that they would be seen only by those on the periphery. Now, being the only woman walking through a sea of men unavoidably drew attention. Design meant to enhance mobility now inhibited it.

In general, women felt more self-conscious about their clothing, movements, and overall appearance. Many reported feeling pressure to change the way they dressed after the office opened up and flattened out. Men did not note any pressure to change their behavior, grooming, or movements about the office.

The feeling women had that they were on display was not “just in their heads.”

The researchers learned that since the partitions came down, men in some teams had started to “rate” the attractiveness of female candidates as they walked into the office for interviews. “Visibility enabled these men to judge and rank women according to their sexual attractiveness,” wrote Hirst and Schwabenland.

Women also felt increased pressure to be vigilant about hiding negative emotions. Without partitions, there was nowhere to hide on a bad day—and this had consequences.

Women don't need privacy because they are more likely to show negative emotions at work, but because they are more likely to be judged harshly for them. While women are stereotyped as being more emotional than men,³ observations of over 2,000 employees found that men are 1.6 times more likely to show negative emotions when criticized, 2.4 times more likely than women to display negative emotions when their ideas are not heard, and 2.5 times more likely to display emotional distress after having a falling out with a co-worker.⁴

Despite the fact that men are more likely to display emotion, multiple studies have found that women are more likely than men to be punished or viewed negatively for being angry at work, while men may actually be rewarded for it.⁵ Women of color and women with disabilities are even more likely to be seen as “too angry” or “emotional.”⁶ Some days, being able to hide in a cubicle or other closed-off space is the only way women can protect their reputation in the office.

Even when emotions aren't running high, being exposed leaves women vulnerable to other interactions that can derail their focus. One of the financial companies I worked for had an open floor plan, and I was one of few women in the office. Despite having my head down and earbuds in, I ended up fielding constant non-work-related interruptions. Men stopped by my desk multiple times a day to ask me what I thought they should buy their wives for their birthdays, what to wear to a holiday function, or to share their weekend plans. I was confused by these constant interruptions. I had no idea what someone should gift his wife for her birthday. I had never met her, but existing in the office while female made me the go-to person for these kinds of questions, at the expense of my focus.

Studies conducted by McKinsey & Company, surveying more than 65,000 employees at 423 companies, found that female senior leaders are 60 percent more likely than male leaders to be asked to provide this kind of emotional support and 26 percent more likely to help team members navigate work–life challenges.⁷ Individuals who approach women with these kinds of questions often are unaware that they are part of a repeating phenomenon. This shadow work accumulates, robbing women of productive time and the kind of work that would allow them to advance. Casual conversation can help co-workers bond, but women bear the brunt of listening, consoling, and advice-giving, all at a cost to their careers.

Perhaps if the designers of US office spaces had had their own Frauenboro to guide them, these unintended consequences could have been avoided. Behavioral design holds the potential to translate Vienna's “gender mainstreaming” principles into “inclusion mainstreaming” designs for the future of work, starting today.

Return to Work: A Chance to Reimagine the Open Office Space

As of this writing, after COVID-19 drove workers to home offices, employers and employees are debating the Return to the Office. Women are not the only ones feeling anxiety over returning to an in-person environment. Employees of color are facing a return to Eurocentric dress codes and “Professionalism Standards” discussed in chapter 4, which raise the cost of being Black at work. In a survey conducted by Buzzfeed, many reported that they enjoyed the privacy of not being seen openly and potentially perceived as the “angry Black person.” In a corporate America still reckoning with racial inequality, the in-person workplace puts pressure on many employees of color to behave like “Racism Wikipedia,” answering their white co-workers' questions about race, while being careful not to make them uncomfortable.⁸ These dynamics are exacerbated in open office environments.

Whether you have already returned to the office or are still debating it, there are several “inclusion mainstreaming” steps you can take to accommodate those who disproportionately face these kinds of challenges, especially in open office environments.

Red-yellow-green. One company that GEN certified implemented a color-coded “availability” system that took the emotional labor out of navigating the “casual conversation” interruption problem. On the back of every employee's chair they hung holders for the kinds of sliders that typically would have displayed their names. Instead of a name plate, though, employees could slide in one of three colored sliders. Red meant, “I'm doing work that requires deep focus. Please do not interrupt me unless it's an emergency.” Yellow meant, “I'd be open to answering questions as needed, but please ask if it's a good time to talk.” Green meant, “I'm working, but open for chit-chat, coffee breaks, and spontaneous collaboration!”

This method let employees who had commonly been interrupted in the past sustain their focus without constantly having to reassert their need to do so. Women reported higher levels of productivity after the color system was implemented, and some employees noted that having to change their behaviors made them more aware of this gendered dynamic. In a follow-up workshop, several employees noted that only when they were forced to wait or find someone else to talk to did they realize how often they had been leaning on particular individuals in the office. Women also expressed relief at no longer having to make sure they rejected interruptions in just the right way, to avoid offending anyone.

Make the open office optional, with movable partitions. I personally enjoyed this accidental design hack when one of my own office spaces was being remodeled. After our department was temporarily moved to an empty floor, to make it more “office-like,” the facilities team rolled movable partitions next to our desks and chairs. Because workspaces set up with partitions were the default, introverts or those who needed more privacy didn't have to make a show by setting them up, while those who were more extraverted could remove them if they wanted to be socially available. Similar to the “red-yellow-green” system, the visual signals took the onus off employees to assert their need for space.

Provide private spaces. Introverts, the neurodivergent, workers who may be living with PTSD, and other underestimated individuals can all face unique challenges when working in open spaces. Providing the following private spaces can accommodate a range of needs that are not taken into account in “default” office designs:

• Prayer rooms. Some individuals may need space to practice daily prayer or to pray during holidays that are not typically protected by the US work calendar. For employees who typically have to work during fasting periods such as Ramadan or Yom Kippur, having a room like this can provide a much-needed low-blood-sugar mental break.
• Nursing rooms. Supporting new mothers should not stop at paid leave. Having a private space—that is not the janitor's closet—explicitly labeled for pumping eases the return to the office. In addition to exclusively reserving this space for new mothers, include refrigerators. GEN's survey responses include far too many stories from women who have had to pump, store their milk in the shared floor fridge, and find it gone when the fridge is cleaned out, or hear complaints from co-workers who do not find it appropriate to store breastmilk in a shared refrigerator. A mini-fridge in the nursing room solves these problems.

  New mothers are not the only ones who appreciate seeing a sanctioned space for them. Employees and candidates of all genders, including those with no intentions to become parents, perceive this amenity as a sign that the company goes beyond talk to accommodating the needs of all employees.

• Quiet/focus rooms. A room dedicated to quiet can be essential for introverts or those who are neurodivergent or working with PTSD. While I have seen quiet rooms in offices set up with candles or essential oils, the lingering scents from these can be disturbing to people who are allergic or to those who may be triggered by certain smells, and I advise against them. Finally, a Vacant/Occupied slider on the door can keep the quiet from being broken by someone knocking.

While these spaces may or may not be visually obvious while walking through a workplace, other signals, pictures, and symbols can stand out. Our co-workers' faces, for example, are not the only ones we see in the office. The pictures staring back at us are another design choice that can signal who belongs and who is still a guest.

Role Models Matter

If I walked through your office right now, what would I see on the walls? Landscapes? Quotations? Portraits?

Every day that I worked in an office in the financial sector, framed faces of white men kept watch over my desk. At the time I didn't think much of it. I assumed they were the faces of the company's previous directors or board members. Iris Bohnet's What Works: Gender Equality by Design introduced me to the studies mentioned below, which show I may have been underestimating the impact of those images.⁹

In a study conducted in the University of Washington's computer labs, researchers measured female students' association with careers in computer science.¹⁰ One group of students was surveyed after they had been working in a computer lab decorated as it had been for years, with posters of male computer scientists or characters from Star Wars or Star Trek. The other group of students had been working in a lab with gender-neutral art, such as pictures of nature. In four different rounds of the experiment, the female students surrounded by gender-neutral art had heightened associations with women and careers in computer science. Changing the wall art to be more neutral or even feminine did not affect men's associations negatively.

Beyond signaling a sense of belonging, the kinds of role models we see or are reminded of can impact our performance. In a Swiss study, a picture of Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel, or Bill Clinton—or no picture—was shown to 149 subjects, both male and female, before they were to deliver a speech.¹¹ Women who had a seen a picture of a female leader spoke for longer periods of time, and their speeches were rated higher in quality, both by external observers and the women themselves.

These same role modeling effects have been tested and verified across racial lines as well. The first time I remember seeing this dynamic in action was when I worked for the Edgar Martinez Foundation. The foundation's work focused on increasing the percentage of public school teachers in Washington State who were teachers of color. This work was driven by repeated studies showing a positive correlation between student achievement and having a teacher of the same racial background.¹²

When I shadowed several students of color who had Martinez Foundation teachers, I noticed their levels of confidence and enthusiasm rise as they went from classrooms with white teachers to classrooms with teachers of color. I will never forget the student who pulled me aside by the hand, pointed to the pictures of multiple heroes of color that their Martinez Foundation teacher had hung on the walls, and exclaimed, “I look like them!”

Beyond enhancing underestimated individuals' sense of confidence and belonging, increasing visibility of role models from underestimated backgrounds can actually diminish the biases others hold toward them. Studies focusing on the “reversibility” of prejudices found that increasing the presence of faces of other groups can reverse biases toward those groups over time.¹³

As cultural levers go, this is one of the easiest. You may not even have noticed the prevalence of male imagery or white faces decorating your walls until now, but replacing them with neutral artwork, or displaying resonant symbols, such as pictures of or quotes from diverse role models, can make underestimated employees feel an increased sense of belonging and confidence.

A Safer Workplace

The #TimesUp movement shed light on the harassment that women face from co-workers and supervisors. The kind of violence faced by women whose jobs require them to interact consistently with the public usually receives less attention, even though these kinds of roles pose much greater risk to women than to men. Women in public-facing roles often do not have access to the same level of protection offered to more male-dominated public-facing work. As documented in Caroline Criado Perez's Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, nurses, for example, are subjected to more acts of violence than police officers or prison guards, and healthcare workers require time off from work due to violence four times more often than from other types of injury. The types of jobs in healthcare that are typically female-dominated, such as nursing, reported the most instances of injury by violence.¹⁴

These statistics are available only because outside researchers have documented them. Only 12 percent of the nurses in these studies who had been victims of on-the-job violence reported the incidents within their organizations. Most stated that there were no reporting structures, or they were told that violence was an assumed part of the job, so their complaints were not taken seriously.

These risks are not limited to healthcare. Women in the service industry are also far more likely than their male peers to be harassed, assaulted, or stalked. They, too, rarely have any means to report, and managers are hesitant to reprimand or remove customers who are behaving poorly.

Employers with public-facing employees can take a few of the following critical steps to help make the physical workplace safer for those who are often placed in vulnerable positions.

State your anti-harassment policy, visibly, from the point of entry. Whether your place of employment is a retail store, a hospital, or a restaurant, if there is a heightened chance of patients or customers harassing your employees, place signs at entryways boldly stating your zero-tolerance policy toward harassment. While this won't stop all bad behavior, you can discourage it by reminding customers that there are consequences; for example, “Anyone who harasses our employees will be removed and banned from the premises.” In addition, limiting customer harassment limits multiple kinds of harassment. Studies published in the Harvard Business Review found that employees are less likely to harass other employees in establishments where customers are openly discouraged from doing so.¹⁵ Post the procedures for reporting harassment clearly, in plain sight. This provides transparency around the process and serves as a subtle reminder that the organization takes complaints seriously.

Require only first names on badges. During one of my breaks home from college, I worked as a server in a hotel restaurant where name badges were required. Social media had exploded, from Myspace to Facebook, and it was easy to find someone if you had both their first and last names. Multiple male customers took advantage of this and sent me unwanted messages over these platforms. At the time I worried that telling them to stop would cause them to make false complaints to my manager, or worse.

Protecting the identity of healthcare workers is especially important for their safety, as well. Patients who feel they were mistreated or family members who have suffered a loss can take it out on employees, and displaying their identity can put them at great risk. Unless it is absolutely critical to have a last name on display, first names create the same level of rapport, while increasing safety.

Different emergencies, different alarms. In settings such as healthcare centers, staff are accustomed to hearing color-coded alarms for different kinds of emergencies, but not all hospitals and clinics have a coded alarm in place for cases when employees are being harassed or assaulted. As Perez points out in one case study, “In one instance, the patient call bell, bathroom assist bell, Code Blue for respiratory or cardiac arrest, and staff emergency alarms all made the same sound in the nurse's station.”¹⁶ A specific alarm for harassment can eliminate confusion over which alarm is signaling which emergency and drive the appropriate urgent response.

A panic button can also be a lifesaver in bars and restaurants. While several states now have laws against allowing only one person to close an establishment after a certain hour, many bars are still being closed at the end of the night by a lone woman. The panic button can mean the difference between someone assaulting a bartender and that would-be assailant fleeing out the door.

Tips on tipping. This may not seem like a “workplace design” cultural lever, but this best practice can be integrated into your menu. In restaurants where the tip is “built into” the pricing or automatically added on as a percentage of the bill, servers are less likely to be harassed by customers.¹⁷ Customers in optional tipping environments are more likely to assume that servers will put up with harassment or even play into flirting that goes too far to earn their tip. When a tip is included, this licensing of inappropriate behavior is gone. If you decide to include this best practice, state it clearly at the top of your menu.

Gender-neutral restrooms. Finally, for employees who may identify as transgender or nonbinary, marking restrooms as gender neutral can make the workplace safer for them, emotionally and physically. Binary restrooms become a difficult choice for those who are going through transitions or have completed transitions but have not yet “outed” themselves to their co-workers. In service establishments in particular, this step can reduce transphobic violence.¹⁸

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You have come to the end of part 2 of this book, and you have covered a lot. You've gone from hiring the right person for the job to ensuring that performance is evaluated fairly. You've learned what you can do so that underestimated individuals have equal opportunities to rise into leadership roles. You know what cultural levers you can adjust in your business today to design bias out and equity in.

In the final three chapters, we turn toward the future. Part 3 explores how artificial intelligence could exacerbate the impact of bias rather than save us from it. We discuss the classic DEI pitfalls and how to avoid them. Finally, we propose some DEI principles to live by as our workforce continues to evolve in ways no one can totally envision.