A Father’s Wish for His Daughters

We live in a world that is yet to completely empower all the wonderful human potential it is blessed with. Stereotypes and gender discrimination still constrain so many extraordinary and talented women from pursuing their dreams. As businesses, actively encouraging diversity it is a means for us to rouse a tremendous reservoir of untapped potential.

This is not merely a moral position. It is one of the smartest investments we can make in the transformation to a more productive, and inspired world.

Growing up in the South Africa of a few decades ago — with all its complexities — I witnessed the enormous challenges my mother endured, despite her intelligence and ingenuity. After my fathers’ death, my mother had no option but to earn a living to support and raise us. Her tenacity — against all odds — empowered me through example.

It was the sacrifices she made for the sake of my education that ultimately paved the course to the professional opportunities that have come my way. Understandably, I am full of admiration and respect for her.

Life has come full circle and I am now a father to three young girls myself. Beyond our love for them as parents, we cherish the opportunity to empower them as young women of substance and ambition, through an equitable upbringing and access to knowledge. My wife and I are excited by — and deeply invested in — the unfolding of their journey to manifest inspired, productive and creatively satisfying lives.

Our societies are in the early stages of an empowering transformation today. I’m elated to see a new era of women in leadership roles across geographies, career paths and responsibilities. Saudi Aramco, the world’s leading oil and gas company, has just bucked a longstanding trend and appointed Lynn Laverty Elsenhans as its first ever woman board member.

Sheryl Sandberg is the COO of Facebook and Susan Wojcicki the CEO of Youtube — in contrast to the historical gender imbalance of the IT industry. Mary T. Barra is the CEO of General Motors and Christine Lagarde the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. From Angela Merkel in Germany to Jacinda Ardem, Prime Minister of New Zealand (and, also incidentally, the world’s youngest female head of government), women heads of state are leading economic and social transformation in their nations.

Apart from the compelling ethical argument for parity, I see more gender diversity in workplaces as a best practice for purely business reasons. More women in industries in which they have traditionally been under-represented — such as computing — will bring their unique set of perspectives and strengths to bear on these collective endeavors. As businesses, it’s crucial to consider how we can become truly inclusive in our culture and adopt gender-diversity in its totality.

An economic necessity for transformation

An inclusive culture is not just an ethical necessity, but also an economic one. Gender equality is the fifth of seventeen sustainable development goals of the United Nations, as of 2017. This indicates the magnitude of the problem and the significant impact that gender equality can have on the world as a whole.

Low levels of female education, employment and leadership can be crippling for women’s growth, but are equally weakening at a macro level. No economy or business can achieve its true potential by excluding the growth and contribution of nearly 50% of its population.

With gender bias entrenched — especially at an unconscious level — how can societies and companies make this transition?

A balance for greater good

The path to creating equal opportunities has its roots in how we bring up our children, both boys and girls. Limiting stereotypes — starting with dolls for girls and mechanical toys for boys — cause serious harm and play a big role in establishing bias. Societies need to be conscious of this and emphasize on equitable upbringing, which does not discriminate based on gender.

For women to step out of this zone and break free of “stereotype-threat”, they need role models in non-traditional industries who can inspire others to unleash their creativity, and explore unchartered territories.

As a result of initiatives that I have been part of — including recruitment of millennial talents — 10 out of 17 young graduates we recruited are women. I’m enthused to see the wonderful lives these young women are creating for themselves — not just professionally, but also in their personal lives as daughters, wives and mothers.

For me, personally, Dubai has been an inspirational city, in truly empowering women and creating an inclusive and gender-diverse culture. From key portfolios, such as Smart Dubai Government, Expo2020, to leading roles such as the Minister of Youth and the Minister of Happiness, women have been inducted into strategic roles in the governments’ workforce.

There is, however, room to enact much more. There are several simple steps we can undertake immediately to enable a more empowered future for our women:

• Equitable upbringing for boys and girls, not discriminated by gender
• Breaking limiting stereotypes for women
• Supporting, nurturing and encouraging female role models to inspire a new generation of women to take up in a non-traditional field
• Eliminating unconscious-bias in the workplaces, by recognizing it and consciously learning how to overcome it
• Encouraging empathy by active questioning such as trying to understand the other person’s point of view, listening carefully, to respond encouragingly and being flexible.
• Inviting women to actively contribute and bring their unique perspective to workplace

I grew up watching my mother’s generation constrained in their dreams and expectations. Since, I have witnessed so many extraordinary women break through those constraints in recent years — my wonderful wife, my daughters and all the women who have been my leaders, collaborators and colleagues through the course of my career.

I wish for an even better world to bequeath to my daughters and their peers, one that is inclusive and thrives on equality and diversity. And as a father and a responsible citizen, it is my duty to help create that world — a world where my daughters, and all women, have the opportunity to follow their aspirations, in spite of their gender.