Women in leadership: global gender parity won’t be achieved in less then 5 generations

On the day that marked the second European Equal Pay Day, Women First organized a global initiative to give an overview of gender gaps in executive and entrepreneurial roles for women. The event, organized by Leaders First, a global community that fosters growth among young professionals, managers, and entrepreneurs, took place in Geneva in partnership with The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Switzerland and Young Executive Committee. Two main researches on this topic have led to the opening of workshops and panels shared by women leaders from all around Europe and from a wide range of industries, understanding the challenges they faced and overcame to achieve their position. What follows is the presentation of the current situation according to two main sources: Women in the Workplace report from McKinsey and The Global Gender Gap N.17 report, published by the World Economic Forum given by Antonella Zangaro (journalist at Luxury&Finance).

“The first thing I would like to start with is thatWomen in the European Union continue to earn less than men – the average gender pay gap in the EU stands at 13%; so, there is still a long way to go to achieve equality. For clarification and to provide evidence for this overview on female leadership, let’s start from this assumption: There is no doubt that women are more ambitious than ever, yet despite some hard-fought gains, women’s representation has remained stagnant. To help us explaining why, we can have a look at the outcome of the latest, number 9, Women in the Workplace report from McKinsey, in partnership with LeanIn.Org. However, this is not the only analysis that provides us with a comprehensive overview of the current situation The Global Gender Gap N.17 report, published by the World Economic Forum in June 2023 also provides data on gender parity for women, covering a much broader area of 146 countries. “The report is an index demonstrating the momentum around gender parity across 4 key elements for gender inclusion: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. The measurements used in the WEF index are also based on gender parity in specific sectors, such as economic activity, education, and health.” And, in the aftermath of the pandemic, headlines focus on the consequences of lockdowns and the rise in gender inequality in work and education. The pandemic disrupted women's participation across all aspects The Index demonstrates the global parity score is back to pre-pandemic levels. Great news, but still not enough because there is a lot more work to do. In 2020 the WEF report predicted it would take 100 years to achieve parity. This figure has now increased to 131 years. At this rate of progress, we won't achieve global gender parity in less then five generations. The statistics are even more concerning when you dig into more specific sectors; it will take 162 years to close the Political Empowerment gender gap and 169 years to close the Economic Participation and Opportunity gender gap. No country has achieved full gender parity. However, Europe has the highest gender parity of all regions at 76%, with one-third of countries in the region ranking in the top 20 and 20 out of 36 countries with at least 75% parity. On the whole, the top 10 countries have closed at least 80% of their gap; Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, and Lithuania. with the exception of Iceland that is the only country to reach 90% (91.2%). Namibia (80.2%) and Nicaragua (81.1%) are surprisingly and unexpectedly in the top ten, while Hungary, Czech Republic and Cyprus rank at the bottom of the region. Overall, At the current rate of progress, Europe is projected to attain gender parity in 67 years. Quite a while… In previous reports, North America has dominated the Index. but, this year its ranking of 75% lowers the country to second place, while Europe has taken the lead at 76.3%, as previously mentioned.

POST PANDEMIC ANALYSIS

Throwing back to the post pandemic analysis; in the last year, Women have been re-entering the workforce in the labor market at a slightly higher rate than men, but overall numbers are still low. In 2023 the labor-force participation rate increased from 63% to 64%, which is still lower than the peak of 69% in 2 thousand 9. Yet, the proportion of women in senior leadership roles (Vice-President, Director, or C-suite) has dropped by 10%, to 32.2.%. The level of variance signifies considerable disparity across sectors. The reasons for the decline of women in C-suite and senior leadership roles are complex and a combination of women being pushed out of corporate positions or choosing to leave. This helps us reinforcing the idea that committing to gender diversity at work is not a short-term goal and it needs constant and concrete commitment and resources to be achieved On the other hand What’s interesting in the McKinsey survey is the debunking of four myths about women’s workplace experiences and career advancement. A few of these myths /fables cover old ground, but they still exist and no progress to show what reality means has been done yet

MITHS

Myth 1: Women are becoming less ambitious Reality: Women are more ambitious than before the pandemic—and flexibility is fueling that ambition The truth is that women are as committed to their careers and as interested in being promoted as men. Women and men at the director level—when the C-suite is in closer view—are also equally interested in senior-leadership roles. And young women are especially ambitious. Nine in ten women under the age of 30 want to be promoted to the next level, and three in four aspire to become senior leaders.

Myth 2: The biggest barrier to women’s advancement is the ‘glass ceiling’ Reality: The ‘broken rung’ is the greatest obstacle women face on the path to senior leadership For the ninth consecutive year, women face their biggest obstacle at the first critical step up to manager. This year, for every 100 men promoted from entry level to manager, 87 women were promoted. As a result of this “broken rung,” women fall behind and can’t catch up.

Myth 3: Microaggressions have a ‘micro’ impact Reality: Microaggressions have a large and lasting impact on women Microaggressions are a form of everyday discrimination that is often rooted in bias. They include comments and actions—even subtle ones that are not overtly harmful—that demean or dismiss someone based on their gender, race, or other aspects of their identity. They signal disrespect, cause acute stress, and can negatively impact women’s careers and health.

Myth 4: It’s mostly women who want—and benefit from—flexible work Reality: Men and women see flexibility as a ‘top 3’ employee benefit and critical to their company’s success Most employees say that opportunities to work remotely and have control over their schedules, are top company benefits, second only to healthcare . Workplace flexibility even ranks above tried-and-true benefits such as parental leave and childcare. and, first and foremost, For women, hybrid or remote work is about a lot more than flexibility. When women work remotely, they face fewer microaggressions and have higher levels of psychological safety. so, what’s crystal clear now is that It is time to turn the tables, contribute to making positive changes and move forward,