Combating the high cost of women's innumeracy.

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It was a tough weekend for women and girls, a trifecta of bad news when not one but three separate studies came out showing a widening (not shrinking) gender gap in education, equal pay and access to executive leadership posts in the UK and other parts of the G7.?

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Wait, what?

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And if you read these articles in that order, the first one (summary of the OECD gender gap in education) surmises that the other two are consequential of the first.? That is to say that women’s lagging proficiency with numbers has a lifelong impact on earnings potential and access to the top-tier jobs – among many other detriments.? I’m talking simple, middle of the road math skills – not even the sophisticated, work-for-Nasa trigonometry stuff.?

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Can you relate?? I can.

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I spoke about women and numeracy in my February podcast because it’s such an important enabler for women, especially for negotiating with confidence.? In that episode, I shared that I’ve had a love-hate relationship with numbers going back as a far as I can remember.? Like most women of my generation where Melanie Griffiths’ aspiring VC executive in “Working Girl” was considered ground-breaking, I don’t recall being overtly encouraged in school or at home to get in tight with the numbers – and so growing up, I never had an affinity toward numbers – or money for that matter.?

When I had money, I spent it – and that was the extent of the relationship until I was much older.? In school, I was always more interested in social sciences and English.? I loved reading and writing, but I really did struggle with math and science in junior high and high school.? I remember I somehow ended up being put in Advanced Algebra, which I'm still convinced was a mistake by the admin team - it was so completely alien to me. And I hated it because I couldn’t crack that nut as easily as others. And I do remember the boys seemed to cope better.? I pressed on and I was an average student in math.?

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Oddly, that didn’t stop me from seeking a degree in computer science.? Something I chose not because I loved the idea of CPUs, mainframes and coding - but because I knew having a degree in technology would open up many other doors of opportunity for me (and it did not disappoint).?

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But my numeracy shortcomings held me back/made my studies harder mainly because I was required to have strong technical and numeracy skills to code software.? And in order to meet the degree requirements, I had to successfully pass certain coding courses.? Back then, it was Java and C++ (I know, old school).? And it was a real struggle.? Truly, I broke out in hives at one point during those coding courses.? And it was only because we had mentoring peer groups that I was able to learn what I was doing wrong to overcome my numerous and humiliating compiling errors.? And they were many! But I persisted and tenacity won out, and unbelievably I graduated with honours, but tenacity is exhausting and it doesn’t need to be this hard for others.

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So, in the years since Working Girl are women making progress??

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According to a study commissioned last year by the UK’s National Numeracy Organisation, the answer is no.? In that study, it was reported that women were significantly less confident with numbers than men and reported greater negative impact on earnings, progression at work and career choices from not having basic math skills or qualifications versus their male peers.? Importantly, the research also showed that confidence had a direct and crucial part to play in navigating and/or improving numeracy-based decisions.? Some other gems from that report:

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• Women are twice as anxious about maths as men (24% vs 12%)
• 40% of women said they don’t think they are a numbers person, compared to 23% of men.
• 33% of women said if a job they were interested in listed "using numbers and data" as a requirement, it would put them off applying, compared to 20% of men.
• 35% of young women aged 18 to 21 aren’t confident making financial decisions.

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But that was last year’s report.? This year, the numbers tell a different story.? Alarmingly, they’re showing that the deficit is growing.? In three separate studies released this weekend, the gender gap is widening, and I believe the basis for all of these starts in early education and can be charted by a girl’s command, or not, of math and science through the major, materials decisions she makes throughout her life and career.

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Perdita Fraser, Chair of the Board of Trustees at charity National Numeracy UK, shared in her Financial Times article the latest OECD PISA international education rankings showing that the UK has remained “one of the worst countries for the gap in maths performance between boys and girls” and that in the last two rankings the UK had fallen into the bottom 10 per cent.? It’s reported that in the UK, between the ages of 10 and 15, the gender gap in math triples, making it harder for girls to keep up past this point and thus fewer girls show interest in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) after this age.?

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The OECD report (which marks a country’s performance in education attained or expected to attain versus the OECD average) goes on to reveal that all seven of the G7 nations showed girls underperforming against boys in Math and 6 of 7 nations showed the same for Science (France was the only G7 country with a higher Science average for girls in this report).

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Why is numeracy so important?

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Because the studies say that if we’re not comfortable with numbers, that discomfort will linger and will permeate into other aspects of our money making and career decisions, and statistically the results of these decisions - when made without the benefit of numbers? - have shown to be of reduced or diminishing value.

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Linked to this article, Fraser shares the findings from an academic study on gender differences in self-promotion, where when asked to self-evaluate (like in a job interview) “women describe their performance more negatively” in contrast to their male peers, among many other examples provided. ?This journal is a worthy and sobering read in showing how this gender-based belief system perpetuates the numeracy gap seen in adults today which in turn “negatively affects career options, financial health and general wellbeing”.?

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Echoing similar patterns across the pond, article two and three came out this weekend; the first from PWC and the second from The Washington Post sharing similarly disturbing trends.

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For the past few decades labour markets around the world have expanded to include more and more women, but in PWC’s annual Women in Work index (drawing on stats provided by the OECD, Eurostat and the US Bureau of Labour Statistics), PWC shares the latest and most concerning trend:? “the gender pay gap widened between 2021 and 2022 in 20 of the 33 OECD countries”.? This includes the UK which, it’s reported, had the largest drop in rankings of any OECD nation (dropping from 13th place to 17th for pay disparity).? Luxembourg ranks 1st with the least disparity, the United States ranks 25th out of 33 countries with a 17% pay gap.??

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Case in point, sometimes bigger isn’t better as six of the seven G7 member countries sit below the median for gender pay parity with the US, Canada and Japan lagging in the bottom third for all countries.

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Why is this happening?? In their study, PWC, the seasoned research authors of this annual index, look forensically at the changing data including capabilities, qualifications, etc for a trade to determine trends and forecasts for things to come.? And in the case of the UK, PWC stated that “even after accounting for a range of these pay-determining factors, the majority of the pay differential between genders persists ….and suggests that biases and structural inequalities in the workplace play a significant role in driving gender pay disparities”.? In money terms what does this mean?? It means that the gap in pay can’t be explained by differences in qualifications, for example, but rather from bias or institutionalised belief systems that men’s output is worth more.

And in the concluding part of their study, it was estimated that eradicating the gender pay gap in the UK alone had the potential to increase women’s (and household) earnings by ￡55B a year.? Incredible to think about.?

Power in Numbers: Representation Matters

For our final study, we look to the area that for me, is the bleakest of the three because this topic typifies how well gender equality is actually working; this is about representation.? In this final study, The Washington Post brings us a frank and cautionary article sharing researchers’ findings from S&P Global who looks annually at executive performance amongst publicly traded US firms.

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The study shows in stark, numerical graphs the volume of senior leader and prestigious C-suite roles gained and now lost by female executives over the past 18 years since the S&P first started tracking it in 2006.? For the first time in that history, the chart shows a net loss to C-suite posts held by women dropping from 12.2% in 2022 to 11.8% in 2023 (a sum of 60 roles).? The proportion of women-held executive posts sitting within 15,000 publicly traded firms has been meagre for years, so this change was a surprise for researchers who reported “The growth in women’s representation among senior corporate positions, once a bright spot for gender parity, potentially faces an alarming turning point”.

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Authors of the study didn’t list specific reasons for the drop, but shared other observations that seem to show a backward trend in support of gender diversity and female executive post holders:

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• Using Natural Language Processing (NLP) of Earnings Calls transcripts, researchers charted a substantial drop in the volume and frequency of Diversity & Inclusion mentions in these calls since mid-2020.? The author links the two points sharing that the “decline in top female executives coincides with a backlash to diversity, equity and inclusion policies in Corporate America and beyond”.
• Tenures for top female executives (4.5 years) are markedly shorter than their male counterparts (7.2 years) leaving the space vulnerable more frequently with likely potential for a male to be the successor in the post.?
• S&P models of parity forecasted for senior leadership posts now project that gender parity won’t happen until somewhere between 2055 and 2072.

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?So How Do We Turn This Around?

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We go back to the numbers.? To be numerate means having the ability to understand and navigate numbers, to interpret statistics and to make fact-based decisions.? According to educational researcher Innocent Waziri, to be numbers literate means having knowledge beyond the basics ?“empower individuals to comprehend, analyse and communicate effectively” – this is considered foundational literacy.? And he asserts that foundational literacy (in reading or math) will propel children and adults to better navigate further learning in other subjects, to be more informed and more responsible for their decision-making, and to make better sense of the world.

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“Beyond practical applications, numeracy skills contribute to critical thinking, logical reasoning and analytical skills” ...?all things needed to pursue higher education, become a better negotiator, to advocate for your personal rights, and to seek advanced career prospects.

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What is your numbers literacy?? And is it too late to start??

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It’s never too late.?

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Thankfully, being in a commercial role early in my career, I recognised that being numbers avoidant would be extremely career-limiting!? And I’ve realised over the years that so many women feel this way.? So, you’re not alone.? Women around the world share this angst and either hide their fear or just avoid dealing with numbers altogether, which makes getting through life pretty darn tough and harder than it needs to be.? In deal-making, I call this “reluctant negotiator syndrome”.? You know where you need to go to get to the other side, but you don’t want to deal with the detail (like numbers) to get yourself there.

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And at National Numeracy UK, they offer a great (and free) online survey that lets you test your skills in a fun, web-form questionnaire.? It’s called the National Numeracy Challenge and it’s designed to test your numeracy, show you how you scored and “improve your everyday maths kills in manageable steps whilst building your confidence along the way”.? What’s not to love about that?? I took the survey, it was short and fun, and it was a helpful reminder to keeps numbers at the front of mind as a useful tool for everyday life. ??

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It was a personal promise to myself 10 years ago that in all of my business decisions I would follow the numbers; that I would ask myself what do the numbers say, etc. because the numbers don’t lie.? And when you’re building your business or your personal finances or revenues for your employer, you need to be able to understand those numbers.? And by happy coincidence, as my numeracy strength grew, so did my confidence.? Or is it a coincidence?

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So, if the experts are right, if women want to be more confident, to grow their own businesses, and/or want to challenge injustice in the pay and hiring gap – we need to listen to what the studies tell us - what those numbers tell us.? Embrace the numbers and in turn we become our own master.

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Citations and Resources:

Chiang, Henry and Samrudhi Kaulapure, Daniel J. Sandberg, PhD, CFA.? S&P Global Market Intelligence.? “Elusive Parity: Key Gender Parity Metric Falls for First Time in 2 Decades”.? 8 March 2024.? Online.? https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/documents/elusiveparity_final.pdf

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Exley, Christine L. and Judd B. Kessler.? “The Gender Gap in Self Promotion”.? The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 137, Issue 3.? Online. 21 January 2022.? https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/137/3/1345/6513425?login=false??

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Fraser, Perdita.? “We Must Mind the Maths Gap for Women”.? Op Ed.? The Financial Times. Online. 3 April 2024.? https://www.ft.com/content/544dbc2b-b3ff-4c2e-bc8f-87c81e531016? Perdita Fraser is the Chair for the Board of Trustees at the UK National Numeracy (a UK charity).

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Telford, Taylor.? “Women’s share of executive jobs falls for the first time in years, study finds”.? The Washington Post, Business.? Online. 3 April 2024.? https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/04/03/women-csuite-research-gender-parity/

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PWC Study: Women in Work Index 2024. “Unmasking inequalities:? Delving deeper into the gender pay gap”.? Online.? ??https://www.pwc.co.uk/services/economics/insights/women-in-work-index.html?utm_campaign=63cc1461dd24a20001e083ca&utm_content=6605a13f78df1a0001b4489a&utm_medium=smarpshare&utm_source=linkedin

Read the full index and study here:? https://www.pwc.co.uk/economic-services/assets/women-in-work-24.pdf

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OECD Data:

Gender Wage Gap.? Percentage pay gap in gross earnings across the 33 OECD countries.? 6 of the 7 G7 member countries sit below the median for gender pay parity with the US, Canada and Japan lagging in the bottom third.?? https://data.oecd.org/earnwage/gender-wage-gap.htm

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Gender Numeracy Gap.? ?Percentages by country indicating the gender gap in education attained or expected to attain versus the OECD average. Table 1.3?? All seven of the G7 nations showed girls underperforming against boys in Math and 6 of 7 nations showed the same for science.?? https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/53f23881-en/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/53f23881-en

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