Gender Parity in Business: how to achieve it?
Last March, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual report on the “Global Gender Gap” made an alarming observation: the pandemic has further widened the gap between men and women.
At the current rate, parity will be achieved in 2156
The Global Gender Gap Index (GGI) measures the percentage of progress towards full gender parity for 156 countries including Switzerland. Measured by 14 indicators since 2006 in countries107, the index has gone from 64.5% in 2006 to 68% today. This painfully slow evolution shows that — if we continue at this speed — it would take us more than 135 years to finally achieve parity in the world! This GGI has even fallen by 0.6% since last year.
The two poor parents of gender equality
This index takes into account the measurement of four dimensions: education, health and livelihood, economic participation and opportunities, and political representation. These sub-indices are 9%,6 9%, 58% and 22% respectively. The figures speak for themselves: the role of women clearly needs to be developed in the economy and in politics.
Switzerland is in the top 10 for the first time
For the 12th time in a row, Iceland is in first place with a GGI of 89.2%. In last place is Afghanistan with an index of 44.4%. Switzerland is in tenth place for the first time with a GGI of 79.8%. This represents an increase of 1.9 points compared to 2020 and 9.8 points compared to 2006. This significant rise is explained by the increase in the number of women represented in parliament and the fact that 5 women have been president of the confederation for 8 years in the last 50 years.
But with few ‘top’ managers and a high salary gap
On the other hand, we see a stagnation of the Swiss economic sub-index. Although women are approaching parity in their representation in our labor market, only 33.5% of senior managers are women. The wage gap (the ratio of women’s wages to men’s wages in similar positions) is 72% and the income gap (the ratio of women’s total wage and non-wage income to men’s) is 70.6%.
Digitalization, a brake on economic parity
Automation and digitalization do not contribute to an improvement in this parity. The so-called disruptive technical skills widen the gap. Of the 8 so-called future skills groups identified by WEF, only 14% of women hold positions in Cloud Computing, 20% in Engineering, and 32% in Data & AI. The gap widens even further when we look at the likelihood of these women moving into a more challenging position. Taking Engineering as an example, the probability drops to 42%!
“I am strongly in favor of quotas”.
In recent years, large groups have launched diversity and inclusion policies mainly focused on gender parity. The actions are very much focused on reducing the salary gap and developing women into senior management positions by breaking the famous glass ceiling. One idea put forward to remedy this is the highly controversial introduction of quotas, strongly advocated by Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank. On 18 March, she spoke to the National Assembly’s delegation for women’s rights and equal opportunities between men and women as follows:
“I have forty years of professional life. I have never yet seen a woman come to me to ask for a pay rise. I am definitely in favor of quotas. Whether you call them quotas or targets, there is a whole theological debate that I am not very interested in.” Christine Lagarde
However, despite the parity targets for each hierarchical level and efforts to recruit more women, improvement remains slow and often too passive. Indeed, the source of the problem is much deeper. Mrs. Lagarde refers to this example:
Why don’t women ask for a pay rise?
We are all confronted with what is called our unconscious bias.
The source of the problem: our unconscious biases
Throughout her career, a woman is indeed penalized by our biases. First of all, at the recruitment stage:
- a study has shown that if a woman replaces her photo with that of a man on her Curriculum Vitae, she has 60% more chances of being hired.
- In a meeting, women are likely to be interrupted 3 times more often than men. Women are also likely to interrupt other women, but rarely men.
- A woman who has just had a child is seen as less committed to her career and is considered less competent.
- When women are assertive, we perceive them as too aggressive or too bossy, and they are therefore seen as less likable (this directly affects their career).
- Conversely, women pay a price for being likable: they are perceived as less competent.
- And the list goes on … the previous reference on salary increase is also one of them.
It is therefore important to work on these biases and become aware of them. It is also important to take action when we are confronted with them. But this is only the source of the problem.
Its cause: an education that differs greatly according to our gender.
The root cause: a different education
You only have to go into a toy shop to see the lack of parity from a very young age. The shelves are clearly demarcated “for girls or boys”.
The brand Gilette launched a campaign in 2018 ‘The Best a Man Can Get’. Scenes show a man stopping his friend when he whistles at a pretty girl; a father running to stop two little boys fighting and urging them to make peace; another telling his daughter to say in front of the mirror “I’m strong”; and this father intervening towards a group of youngsters harassing a smaller one to stop them through mediation.
Yet on the YouTube channel, 834,000 people “liked” the video and 1.6 million — yes 1.6 million! — rejected it with the “dislike” button.
This attitude highlights how the integration of the ‘good’ sides of men and women by all of us, regardless of our gender, is still taboo nowadays.
The solution: the integration and balance of our feminine and masculine sides.
In companies, actions to re-establish parity are accelerating and becoming more pragmatic through increased parental leave, greater flexibility in working hours, and equal adjustment of salaries and incomes.
On the ‘soft’ side, leaders are being trained in the basics of unconscious bias and we are seeing the development of groups to help women leaders to be more assertive; to bring out traits often described as masculine.
Is this enough? It would seem not.
With an economic model strongly based on patriarchy, how can we create a more balanced working environment in the way we work? We are now moving towards a more authentic leadership, where expressing our emotions, being vulnerable and empathetic are no longer taboos; on the contrary!
As a reminder, the most-watched TEDx in the world is Brené Brown’s on the power of vulnerability (with over 55 million views). Indeed “vulnerability is not a weakness” she reminds us.
Last September, Forbes demonstrated in an article that empathy is the key skill of tomorrow’s leader!
So earthlings, are you ready to find this balance and close this gap together?
Marie-Philippe Vanheems
