Women: A Synonym for empowerment?
Indra Nooyi, Sheryl Sandberg, Marillyn Hewson, Abigail Johnson, Ginni Rometty, Meg Whitman, Safra Catz, Ruth Porat... These are some of the most powerful women in the business era today. The above names include the CEO, Chairman, President of some of the biggest companies on planet Earth today, i.e, Google (Alphabet), Pepsi-Co, Facebook, Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM, Fidelity Investments, General Motors, Lockheed Martin.
This might sound good, but I want to put forward some numbers to put forward the real perspective of things.
Women hold just 24% of the senior positions in companies across the globe in 2018, decreasing from 25% in 2017. (Source: GrantThorton)
What could be the reasons for decline? You all know about the concept of "glass ceiling" (a metaphor used to represent an invisible barrier that keeps a given demographic (typically applied to women and minorities) from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy. The metaphor was first coined by feminists in reference to barriers in the careers of high-achieving women). It is one of the reasons, definitely.
But have you heard of "glass cliff" ? It is when women are appointed to leadership options during times of financial and economic crisis, or in failing companies, directly limiting their chances of success.
It is worse in India. (Not criticising, just stating the facts per se!)
Labour force participation (LFP) by definition includes all the people above 15 years of age engaging in some sort of economical activity.
As compared to 1990 when FLFP (Female LFP) was at 35% in India, it has since dropped to 27% in 2017. During the same time, FLFP in Pakistan has grown from 14% to 25%, in Saudi Arabia from 14% to 22%, in UAE from 29% to 41%. (Source: World Bank Group)
India has the lowest FLFP rate in South Asia, excluding Pakistan, which is in fact growing.
This amazing article by International Labour Organisation puts together a good picture of why FLFP is so low in an advancing country like India. I suggest you to go through it once (It is short, pinky promise!)
A study by Credit Suisse, stated that women represented only 11.20% of all the board members in India in 2015. How much do you think that proportion has changed as of 2018?
We live in a world where there is a constant debate for gender equality. Yet on average, there exists a gender pay gap almost always in favour of men (Go through this article and you will see). There is a ingrained presumption in favour of males for being the default position holders. The though process of "think manager, think male" still exists widely across the world.
But the results actually show otherwise.A study done by University of California, Davis Graduate School of Management has shown that female leadership has proven to get better results. Companies with at least some portion of their board positions as women have performed significantly better than all-male boards.
Companies with higher percentage of women executives have performed on average better than the other companies. This survey done on California 400 top companies clearly shows the difference on the financial leverage provided by women in the top 25 companies who had the highest percentage of female against all the others.
But then again, the representation numbers are just not in the favour of women. Why!
Catherine Fox, ex-Corporate Woman columnist for Australian Financial Review, did a survey and found out some interesting statistics on women's career progression and the standing gender parity. 72% of male executives agreed that there has been some significant advancements in favour of women's careers, while on the other hand, 71% of female executives disagreed to the same point. You can see the mismatch, right?
Why do you think the mismatch exists? Is it because of the ''illusion of inclusion", or the confirmation bias, or the selective perception and absorption of men for men, probably all of these or some of these?
Or is it the historical predicament of the women assumed as the caretakers/caregivers that prevents them from climbing up the corporate ladder to assume family responsibilities?
Women are not the anymore the one who only make a house a 'home'. They have constantly shown their forte in many other areas in the professional field. They have constantly surpassed their male counterparts and proven superior.
You (the reader), if you're a woman, you're a natural giver, you are extremely good at creating networks, you're a relationship specialist, and much more. These are some natural traits of you, being a woman in this ever changing world.
In a world where there are no boundaries, possibilities are limitless, and everything is evolving, I believe woman should be at the forefront as much as men are.
Till then, believe! :)