Beyond Culture Reviews: Why Participatory Gender Audits Go Further

Workplace Culture Reviews vs. Participatory Gender Audits

Workplace culture reviews are gaining more attention, and rightfully so. They help organizations understand what’s really happening beneath the surface — employee experiences, disengagement and turnover drivers, emerging legal risks, and more.

But there’s another approach that goes even deeper: the Participatory Gender Audit (PGA).

Together with Josée Daris, I’ve been sharing information about PGAs — a lesser-known but powerful tool for understanding and improving workplace culture. This week, I wanted to directly compare the two. Culture reviews absolutely have their place, but a PGA does everything a culture review does — and then goes further.

🪢 Intersectional by Design

While “gender” is in the name, PGAs examine how all aspects of identity intersect, including race, disability, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and more. This intersectional approach gives leaders a clearer, more nuanced understanding of organizational culture and inclusion.

🎓 Expert-Led and Evidence-Based

PGAs are conducted by specialists in gender equity and organizational change. We draw on decades of research about how workplace systems, structures, and informal norms can unintentionally reinforce bias.

We identify where those dynamics may exist in your organization and provide concrete, tailored recommendations to address them.And because I’m a lawyer, any identification of legal risks is protected by privilege — an added layer of security for your organization.

🔍 Methodologically Rigorous

While culture reviews often rely heavily on interviews, PGAs use a triangulated approach: surveys, interviews, focus groups, workshops, and document reviews.

This ensures a balanced, comprehensive picture that minimizes outlier responses and delivers clear, defensible findings decision-makers can trust.

⚙️ Efficient and Scoped to Your Needs

Despite their rigor, PGAs are participatory by design. The process is co-created with clients, ensuring the scope, methods, and focus areas align with your organizational priorities. The result is a process that’s efficient, focused, and provides strong value for investment.

Listening, Learning, and Leading Better

Both culture reviews and PGAs help organizations listen, learn, and lead better. But PGAs bring an added layer of depth, intersectional insight, and actionable expertise that can make inclusion efforts more effective, credible, and sustainable.

If you’re considering a culture review, reach out to explore whether a Participatory Gender Audit might be the better fit for your organization.