Male Executives Are Leaving Nike as Women Speak up About Inequality
A huge shift at a time of #MeToo and Time’s Up.
Throughout the past few months, we’ve seen the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements grow stronger and stronger, resulting in more women being honest about their experiences, and justice being served in the entertainment industry. Although there’s still a long way to go, the movement has created an environment where women feel more comfortable standing up for themselves, and most recently, female employees at Nike are speaking out about their toxic company culture.
The New York Times reports that after beginning to feel a toxic culture within the company, a few women covertly conducted a survey that asked female employees whether they had been the victim of sexual harassment and gender discrimination at the work place. Once results were in, Nike’s chief executive Mark Parker received the information, and since then a handful of the male top executives have left or are planning on leaving the company. “Many of my peers and I reported incidences and a culture that were uncomfortable, disturbing, threatening, unfair, gender-biased and sexist — hoping that something would change that would make us believe in Nike again,” said Amanda Shebiel, an ex-employee of five years who resigned due to the toxic culture.
The reports are a huge setback for the sportswear giant, and has lead to series of necessary a shifts within the company, illustrating how quickly Nike is addressing the workplace problems. Since the complaints surfaced, Nike has conducted a review of its human resources operations, enforcing mandatory management training as well as revising several internal procedures. It remains to see what the impact of the serious issue will have on the company as a whole, and to read more about the story, head over to The New York Times. We can only hope that women will continue to speak up and stand up for their rights, especially at a time where it is more important than ever.
