Women have been making progress in the business world for many years, but that progress has been both hard won and insufficient. Although women hold the majority of Masters Degrees (67%) they represent only 21 of the Fortune 500 CEOs. These statistics only scratch the surface of how the business world regularly reinforces the glass ceiling, the enduring barrier to women’s progress.
It’s unfortunate that the business world fails to promote women to positions commensurate with their skills – not just because of the valuable contributions they would bring to the workplace, but also because empowering women in the workplace improves business success. This fact holds true both at major corporations and microfinance programs in the developing world. Here’s what we know about the power of engaging women in the marketplace.
Creative Collaboration
While it tends to be unproductive to continue the narrative of male brains vs. female brains, there is some truth to the stereotype. Not only do women bring different skills and perspectives to problem solving, they also tend to expand the breadth of industry knowledge available. Having a gender-integrated team can help to provide a different sense of authority as understood by the client base.
The Financial Advantage
To be forthright, businesses with a well gender integrated workforce make more money than businesses with minimal engagement of women. And this isn’t just a small hike that we’re talking about. One survey showed that companies with women on the Board of Directors outperform businesses with all-male boards significantly. This should be enough to motivate any company to move towards more inclusive hiring and promotion practices.
Considering Global Perspectives
Global wealth analysis has shown that where women are undereducated and underemployed, intractable poverty tends to dominate. However, giving women adequate education, skills training, and small loans to start businesses can be revolutionary. There is now a booming microfinance system through which women in developing countries receive small loans that are quickly repayable as their businesses flourish.
On the other hand, some countries have taken steps to even out inequalities in employment through legal measures. This is the case in Norway where it is legally required that at least 40% of company board members must be women. However, this was not seen as a stopping point. Rather, the hope was that increasing women’s leadership at the upper levels would also increase women’s employment and advancement at lower rungs of the corporate ladder. Though it’s unclear if this has been the result, authentic women’s leadership that avoids tokenism has the potential to dramatically change the workplace environment.
Increasing Women’s Workplace Involvement
If you’re looking around and it doesn’t seem that your business is capitalizing on women’s intelligence and leadership abilities, it’s time to take steps towards correcting this. And while you can’t disrupt the gender balance overnight, it’s important to take small steps towards a more integrated workplace.
One place to start is by reevaluating your company’s hiring and advancement practices. Do you find yourself passing over equally qualified women for men when hiring a new employee or choosing someone for a promotion? It’s time to look into why this might be, as you’re likely demonstrating the pervasiveness of gender stereotypes. The expectation that men will do a better job than women may be putting your company at a disadvantage.
Consider Norway’s national quotas as a model for your business. Should you institute quotas to increase the number and status of women in your workplace? If you’re considering quotas, it’s important to start from the ground up and bring women in at all levels. Though Norway’s law focuses on boards, giving women the industry foundations and promoting them at an equal rate to men actually may make a greater difference than simply choosing already powerful women to serve on your board. These women may be so immersed in the political culture of the business world that they have become tokens, not representatives of women’s viewpoints.
Another possibility to consider when looking to increase women’s workplace engagement is to encourage collaboration across hierarchies. If you haven’t been promoting women at an equal rate to men, it may be that you have a number of women working at lower positions in your business who have the experience and expertise to work with men (and women) in higher positions. Allow for collaboration and see what these multi-level teams produce. You may be surprised at the contributions from women lower down the ranks – and if so, you should consider promoting them.
It’s important that businesses don’t promote women without making sure that the company has a culture that is ready for this advancement. While a sexist culture is no excuse for not promoting women, it’s important to check the state of your diversity and sexual harassment education programs. A clear diversity policy can help those in positions of power realize that they have a duty to treat women and other minorities equally. The culture of your business needs to support the hiring policies you put in place so that everyone feels comfortable. It isn’t enough for women to be hired if they are alienated by the corporate culture.
Furthermore, all employees should receive sexual harassment training and HR should be prepared to take such complaints seriously. It is not uncommon for women to face harassment from male coworkers when they’re promoted, especially when their fellow employees are uncertain of how to react to a woman in a position of power. Nip this kind of behavior in the bud to avoid sexual harassment suits.
Own Your Advantage
Due to increased educational opportunities, women have the capacity to fill any position and bring innovative ideas to these roles. Armed with the knowledge that a gender diverse workforce improves economic outcomes, take a close look at the employment figures in your workplace. Everyone benefits when women lead alongside men, and today they are more equipped to do so than ever before. We’ve come a long way, but we’ve still got a ways to go .
