Women and gender minorities in corporate settings are expected to “Break the Glass Ceiling”, “Navigate labyrinths” and “Cross firewalls” to fight for gender diversity in the C-suites and yet, routinely labelled as weak and subordinate to men. Quite unjustly.
Gender diversity in corporate leadership is a discussion that has been shuttlecocked to and fro. Some use the term for the clout and the rest are genuinely looking for solutions. While it goes without saying, the concept of gender diversity was introduced to resolve or minimise the unfair treatment (to put it lightly) that women and the LGBTQ+ community were subjected to when climbing the corporate ladder.
The promotion of gender diversity in corporate leadership has always taken the path of the mistreated genders having to look up to break through the glass ceiling. Some accuse the corporate sector of leaving out the narrative at the other end of that scenario – which is that of the men peering down. How do we have an all-inclusive conversation about this matter then?
Promoting gender diversity in corporate leadership
The eradication of gender inequality started from the bottom and with a colossal effort is now a little bit above the bottom. Despite such efforts of rolling a boulder up the hill, women only make up 7.4% of Fortune 500 CEOS, only 27.1% of women are managers and leaders, and there is an alarming lack of research, surveys, and census data that report on the LGBTQ+ representations (or lack thereof) in higher ranks. While they are denied visibility or not comfortable revealing their sexual identity, the limited data that is available states that only 0.5% of Fortune 500 board seats are held by members of the LGBTQ+ community. While a fraction of the companies are trying to be inclusive, many of them are still reluctant. A few of the main red flags of institutions that lack gender diversity are:
- Othering and undervaluing employees of gender minorities within a male-dominated environment
- Being subjected to biases
- The existence of a ‘Glass Ceiling’:
- Sexual harassment
- Allowing one gender to monopolise C-suite ranks
- At the receiving end of microaggressions
How do we bridge or at least, tighten the gap in corporate leadership? A thorough promotion of gender diversity requires ticking at least 3/4th of the below-mentioned checklist:
- Senior leaders (irrespective of their gender and age) need to create an equal ground that ensures similar opportunities for advancement, promotion, and career growth. If a workplace uses the same yardstick to measure the productivity of all employees, then the opportunities available for them should be bestowed sans bias too.
- Criticisms, reprimands, and acknowledgements must be distributed without bias. According to ‘Women in the Workplace 2018’, women are bombarded with criticism for failures and are denied credit for their successes. These subtle roadblocks need to be destroyed.
- Initiate clear job performance evaluation criteria
- Analyse corporate data by gender
- Encourage everyone to apply for leadership positions. Many are hesitant to compete for leadership positions because they undermine their skills and experience. Companies can encourage them with mentorship and sponsorship opportunities.
- Create a pipeline of gender-diverse leadership while paying acute attention to its intersectional impact. Companies need to start identifying and developing an individual’s talent early in their careers. This can be done by creating internship and fellowship programs, as well as by providing them with opportunities to take on leadership roles in their current positions.
- Dissolve the stigma around LGBTQ+ communities
- Expand definitions that evade explaining why LGBTQ+ is not included in the concept of ‘Board Diversity’ (Board implies higher ranks)
A real-world example of a corporation that successfully attempted to promote gender diversity by meeting the communities in the middle is the U.S.-based multinational tech company; IBM. The company has several initiatives in place to promote LGBTQ+ representation in its workforce, including a diversity council for LGBTQ employees and a resource group for LGBTQ+ employees. While many may view IBM’s success as an impressive business story, a little digging will tell you that it is a diverse pool-of-people story.
Benefits of promoting gender diversity in corporate leadership
Corporate leadership may embrace gender diversity either because it is the right thing to do or because their performance and competitive advantage will improve manifold. Either way, there will be benefits galore. Research done by companies like McKinsey shows that gender-diverse companies are 15% more likely to outmatch the ones that are not. To add another layer to its credibility, the World Economic Forum illustrates how gender equality can magnify the company’s productivity by 16%. These are numbers that signal the gravity of how important it is to have a gender-diverse task force as well as a gender-diverse C-suite.
Furthermore, gender diversity brings to the table a potluck of talent, perspectives, and collaborations. It can also enhance staff retention, improve recruitment and reputation, and of course result in greater profitability.
Additionally, it reduces the gender pay gap because companies with diverse leadership teams are more likely to prioritise fair and equitable pay practices. Simply put, a gender-diverse team existing at the top ranks make it a friendly workplace. When higher ranks function in tandem with gender diversity, it reflects well on the company. This will certainly attract a gender-diverse customer base which will eventually result in profiting the business in more ways than one. If the numbers don’t convince you, the fact that the level of diversity is inversely proportional to risk aversion should. If we homogenise diversities, we will only be left with problem solvers who attempt to solve the problem in a singular manner which will feed into each other’s blind spots and limitations.
The reason why it is imperative to have a diverse workforce, especially in higher positions, is so that they can challenge/reform the outdated workplace cultures that capitalise on under-valuing employees who don’t identify as male. The other reason simply is, in a 21st century landscape where there is archaic thinking that demeans gender-diverse board representations as frivolous, it is the humane thing to do.
(Sandunlekha Ekanayake)