Confronting the ideal worker myth to better support efforts towards gender equity: recommendations for a post-pandemic workforce

Abstract

ABSTRACT Gender inequity is an ongoing issue that organizations and society have failed to address fully. The (stalled) gender revolution is multidimensional and complex, and the ‘ideal worker myth’ – the outdated belief that the ‘ideal worker’ can put work above all else in their life – is one such factor that perpetuates gender inequity at work. We use this article as a space to contribute to the conversation around gender equity and the myth of the ideal worker, especially in response to challenges highlighted during and since the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a crucial time at which the ideal worker should be subverted, as women’s participation in the paid workforce was undermined by pandemic-related issues, perhaps even moving the gender revolution backward. Here, we provide an overview of these topics to orient our readers, and we recommend remedying these issues using an intersectional feminist approach in both research and practice. Our actionable recommendations are the crux of this article and are designed to promote gender equity and end the myth of the ideal worker once and for all.