Beyond gender lines

By Herman M. Lagon

The workplace is often just a mirror of society—and the biases outside seep right in. Gender expectations still influence who gets the big tasks, whose opinions matter, and whose efforts fade into the background. Gender neutrality gives us a way to change that. It is not denying inequality but rejecting assumptions, and valuing people for what they can actually do, not the categories they were boxed into.

We see the script too often. Women, handed the pens to take notes; men, handed the floor to direct the dialogue. What appears normal is built on traditions too stubborn to die. A 2023 PIDS survey uncovered that 62% of Filipino women in leadership still feel pushed out of strategy. Breaking these patterns takes a gender-neutral approach—where skills guide assignments, and stereotypes no longer write the script.

Some companies are already testing this. A Cebu-based tech firm tried anonymous hiring by removing names and gender indicators from résumés. The result? A 30% rise in women hires tells the story best: remove bias, and capability shines. The workplace felt fairer, and suddenly, discussions were about results, not gender lines.

This matters in our own context. In the country, personal ties and pakikisama often shape careers, especially in family-run companies. Leadership sometimes gets handed down out of tradition, not ability. Just imagine the cultural shift if promotions and succession were based on qualifications—not gender, not family ties. Gender-neutral practices could transform not just offices, but entire industries.

Still, neutrality by itself will not be enough. In education and healthcare—fields powered largely by women but still led mostly by men—we need to be gender-sensitive too. Take public school teachers: mostly women, carrying enormous loads, but still underrepresented when decisions are made. To be neutral is not to be blind to inequity. It is to face disparities and act on them.

Encouragingly, small but thoughtful efforts show us the way. In Quezon City, a mentorship program paired young employees with seasoned leaders regardless of gender. The women grew more confident in their roles, while men who mentored them saw their own blind spots. In the end, everyone gained.

But beyond policies, real change happens in small, everyday choices. How often do we assume a male teammate will “handle the pressure” or expect a female colleague to take care of emotional labor? These unspoken assumptions quietly shape culture. Mindfulness in these moments is where a truly gender-neutral workplace begins.

That said, the approach must tread carefully. In a culture still wrestling with machismo, neutrality must not become an excuse to erase real gender struggles. Performance reviews, for example, should focus on clear results rather than on stereotyped “personality traits” like being “too aggressive” for women or “too soft” for men. Equity requires conscious correction, not passive neutrality.

Even technology can play a role. A Makati-based startup trained its hiring AI to disregard demographic data and focus on skills. The outcome was a team more diverse, collaborative, and innovative. The lesson? Fairness does not happen by accident. It must be built into systems by design.

At its heart, gender neutrality is not about denying our differences. It is about seeing people for the light they carry, opening doors based on skill and spirit, not on stereotypes. It is fairness born of respect—where differences are honored but never allowed to chain someone down.

When we stop binding people to who they are “meant” to be, and instead honor what they are capable of, we begin to shape workplaces—and a society—that give everyone room to bloom.

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Doc H fondly describes himself as a “student of and for life” who, like many others, aspires to a life-giving and why-driven world grounded in social justice and the pursuit of happiness. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the institutions he is employed or connected with.