#BreakTheBias with Ingibjörg Gunnarsdóttir — Program Manager

We asked the women of Lucinity to share their thoughts and perspectives, for International Women’s Day 2022, on gender equality and inclusiveness.

Ingibjörg Gunnarsdóttir

Inga, the Program Manager at Lucinity with a background in banking and CRM systems across multiple countries and continents, joins the others in citing the importance of role models and transforming relationships between genders.

“The glass ceiling is real, and the boy’s club in charge of maintaining it is actively playing defense to maintain the status quo,” Inga says. “We need more female role models, to show us, women, that it is actually attainable and also to prove to the menfolk that we women are actually very capable of being in higher positions in companies.”

She points to the changes in the recent past as positive: “Society as a whole has become more aware of the biases women face as well as everything metoo related.” Then she continues: “The first step is awareness…but we need to work together as a society to educate the people responsible for the pushback that just because women are actively asserting their rights to equal everything, that doesn’t mean someone else has to lose or reduce their rights, which seems to be a common misunderstanding among certain groups.”

Acknowledging progress while maintaining momentum is essential, especially in countries where the “top-sheet” statistics for equality can bring a false sense of merriment.

As Inga puts it: “Society, at least here in Iceland, is becoming more aware and less tolerant towards bad behavior and women and other minorities have a lot more ability to tell their stories due to social media, etc. and are more likely to be believed. Governments are actively imposing laws to fight for equality (board male/female ratio quota, etc.). Society and businesses are becoming more aware that a diverse team creates a better workplace and a better product for a wider customer market.” Then she adds: “We’re heading in the right direction…just very slowly.”

Hear from more women

This portrait of Inga comes as part of a series for International Women’s Day 2022. To read from more women in Lucinity sharing their thoughts on gender equality, see my introduction.