Why We Shouldn't Be Scrapping ED&I Initivaties.

In the same week that Jeremy Hunt (Conservative MP, UK) announced public sector organisations should save money by reducing spend on ED&I initiatives we celebrated women through International Women's Day 2024 and Mother's Day in the UK.

(This article will focus on gender difference, rather than the whole of ED&I universe).

Indeed, Jeremy Hunt seems to be voicing the opinion of the nation on ED&I: where studies by King's College London evidence that many Britain's now feel that gender equality has not only been reached, but gone too far - particularly amongst the younger population. This belief has increased dramatically over a very few years from 29% in 2019 to 47% in 2024. It seems these sentiments are reflected across the pond in the USA.

From a business perspective, gender equality in the workplace brings strong financial rewards.

Research by gender diversity consultancy The Pipeline show that large UK firms whose executive boards are one-third female are 10 times more profitable on average than all-male boards – and the gap is growing on performance. Diversity isn’t just good for women, it’s good for business. In the public sector, it’s important the organisations paid to serve their community, reflect, and represent the people they support.

So when we think about equality between the sexes, how equal is equal?

In the UK, less than 10% of the top FTSE 100 companies are run by women, in contrast to 3 million women working in the lowest paid roles - compared to 1.9 million men.

Over the last 4 years, the gender pay gap for such workers has increased by almost ￡1.00, with the median pay gap between the sexes being almost 8% in favour of men, for those in full-time work (ONS).

During this period, women have begun to remove themselves from the corporate world all together to establish their own companies, with a record number of women establishing businesses in 2022 (and continuing). Me being one of them. Sadly, they find it much harder than men to obtain financing for their enterprises, which is an essential component for success. (Financial Times).

This is echoed across in the pond in the USA, where whilst 48% of women join the workforce at entry level, only 28% - compared to 72% of men have succeeded to the heights of C-Suite level McKinsey Similar to the UK, the same report raises serious issues around women leaving the mid-line talent pool, causing problems for the available talent ready for ascension to C-Suite / Leadership roles.

It seems that despite best efforts, the corporate world can't meet womens personal or professional needs, and struggle to deal with "microaggressions" in the workplace. (McKinsey, 2023). These trends seem to demonstrate that the traditional working models of employment do not work for circa 50% of the population – who are now talking with their feet.

From a business and recruitment perspective, this crumbling pipeline will lead to a lack of available talent of women at C-Suite / Board level in the coming years, leading to a decrease in representation of women at senior levels in the corporate world, despite the clear financial benefits to such organisations.

There are many possible reasons behind this shift, including the negative impact on women during the pandemic, where they were disproportionately removed from paid employment, experienced a higher dropout rate from education, were required to provide unpaid support for children and relatives - whilst also dealing with a huge increase in domestic abuse. On top of the usual suspects, these will greatly impact her quality of life, wellbeing and health; they can even trap her in poverty like conditions, and forced to stay in an abusive marriage to survive.

Should they divorce (around 50% of us will), the chances are they will end up in poverty compared to their male counterparts, who's prospects of gaining an uplift in financial circumstances is much greater by comparison. Considering the UK Government’s ever increase in the age of retirement, this poses real threats to them long-term. ?

So - considering the real, ongoing disparity in gender equality in society and the workplace, why are people feeling that equality has not only been met, but actually gone too far?

A survey conducted by Hope not hate in 2020 (pandemic era) https://bit.ly/3PeGX4i found that half of the young men surveyed believed feminism "has gone too far and makes it harder for men to succeed". They attributed this to growing far-right ideology amongst younger millennials and gen Z men in the UK, stating "men’s rights and anti-feminism are increasingly becoming a slip road to the far right, appealing to young men feeling emasculated in an age of changing social norms". Something similar was identified in 2019 https://bit.ly/438tAII

I'm sure there are many more things to consider, and would be grateful to hear your thoughts on this.

In the meantime, aside from financial restraints in the Government, I feel concerned that the clear benefits to society and business for gender equality can be negatively impacted by high profile politicians decrying its' need. Indeed, I wonder if Jeremy's thoughts may be linked to former Conservative MP Lee Anderson's joining the right wing group Reform - and a possible appeal to it's audience.

I’d be grateful to hear your thoughts on this.