Women’s Equality Day: The Business Case For Equality

We've come a long way in terms of gender equality, but still have a long way to go. Women make up half of the workforce, yet less than five percent are CEOs. More women than men now graduate college, yet the average full-time working woman in the United States will lose roughly $460,000 over a 40-year period in wages due only to the wage gap.  We still don’t have close to equal representation in government: Just 20% of U.S. Congress is made up of women.

That's why holidays such as Women’s Equality Day —which celebrates the passage of the 19th Amendment that granted women the right to vote on August 26, 1920—are so important for raising visibility for the equality champions who drove real change and awareness for parity issues. Personally, I think every day should be equality day, so that we continue to reinforce that it’s not an exception, but should be the rule.

Equality is not a female issue, it’s a social and economic imperative. In fact, up to $28 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 if we reach full gender equality, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. Achieving gender equality is good for women, for men, and for companies’ bottom line. Here is how equality benefits:

PROFITS

Equality is good for business. Companies with the highest representation of women on their senior teams reap 34% more profits than companies with the lowest female representation, uncovers Catalyst.

THE BOARDROOM

Having more women on boards isn’t just a nice to have, it’s a need to have: On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 66% in terms of return on invested capital, finds Catalyst.

RETENTION RATES

Companies with extended maternity leaves have seen the rate of new moms who don’t return to work drop by as much as 50%,  and these new moms work longer hours, on average, one to three years later, reports The Harvard Business Review.

On the flip side, studies have shown that fathers who take at least two weeks of paternity leave or more are likely to continue being involved in child caring activities, such as feeding and diapering. The more that men see other men taking parental leave, the more it will become the norm.

LEADERSHIP

Companies performing in the top 20% financially have nearly twice the amount of women in leadership roles compared to those in the bottom 20%, finds the DDI Global Leadership Forecast.

INNOVATION

The research shows that diverse teams where people feel safe speaking up and using their voices are more creative. Shifting from an all-male or all-female team to one split evenly along gender lines could increase revenue by 41%, finds MIT.

?MEDIA

Advertisements and media help shape culture. Accurately portraying women and girls in ads and media is so important, because if you can see her, you can be her. Ads and programming that do so are more well-liked by both men and women, and boost purchase intent among consumers by 26%, finds SeeHer.com.

We all know that equality is good for business, so what are we waiting for? Legacy issues run too fast and we will never catch up. We need to stop talking about the problem and each take responsibility. This is a collective effort: We have to have change in our hearts, our minds and our pocketbooks and do the right thing today. The only way to fix the wage gap is to move forward with an equality mindset and accountability that goes like this: Equal pay for equal work. End of story!