The Zukunftsinstitut has defined 12 megatrends that serve as a model for the transformation of our world. Megatrends influence our society, institutions, companies and individuals and therefore serve as the basis for important decisions in business, politics and on a personal level.
In this blog post we talk about the megatrend Gender Shift. This megatrend deals with how traditional gender roles of men and women are losing their commitment and importance in society. Gender no longer determines the destiny of a person and allows them to find new individuality and freedom in life. Changing role models and broken stereotypes lead to pluralistic change in culture, society and economy.
Part of the megatrend Gender Shift are the following 4 future theses:
Social Relevance of Gender Roles
With decreasing relevance, family structures and the division of roles between men and women change: mothers are more likely to engage in gainful employment, fathers use parental and part-time time to shape their lives beyond stereotypical plans.
Diversity becomes Normality
Feminism is spreading and creating more space for a gender shift. There will be more women in leadership positions and the construct of “toxic masculinity” will continue to be criticized and lose its power. Business and politics are mixed in a more colourful way.
Gender Awareness
Biases are being uncovered and a new broad awareness of gender is being created. Technologies and big data will also play a decisive role against prejudice.
Identity Beyond Gender
Especially as a result of pressure from the younger generations, all structures, products and services as well as communication have to adapt, for example in marketing.
The megatrend Gender Shift and its theories for the future illustrate that the issue of gender as an identity characteristic is an important one, but is being pushed into the background thanks to increased awareness and the overcoming of prejudices.
This change requires a lot of openness and understanding for our fellow human beings. Therefore, in order to be able to follow and shape it constructively, we need the targeted development of emotional skills – DeepSkills.
Companies also need to create appropriate structures, establish an open communication and welcoming culture, and acquire those emotional skills. Diversity in the company is and will continue to be a sustainable success criterion. Suitable DeepSkills for the megatrend Gender Shift are, for example:
Learning unlearning …
… means letting go of established ideas and ways of thinking and flexibly developing new actions in order to adapt to changing conditions.
Promoting Diversity & Inclusion …
… includes knowledge of what diversity and inclusion mean for companies, how they can be established and lived, and how employees and the entire company benefit from new perspectives.
Many other emotional skills are useful here. The megatrend Gender Shift is all about one thing: us as people, very personally and individually. We need a lot of sensitivity, empathy and common goals in order to do justice to all in their identities, to dismantle outdated structures and to ensure equality. Emotional skills help us to understand each other and grow together as we change. It is important to consciously rely on these abilities and to strengthen them sustainably.
If you want to learn more about DeepSkills and tailor-made learning programs for your organization, talk to our People Development Manager Laura Kottwitz to identify the right DeepSkills for your organization. Book demo now
