More and more people in today’s society have become advocates for gender equality, and the movement is rapidly spreading around the world. Although most of society has progressed immensely, there is still an extreme gender gap in the business world that isn’t being acknowledged. The Conference Board of Canada informs us that in Canada, the average difference between a man and woman’s income is 19%. In addition, men in the United States hold 83% of the executive committee positions, while women hold just 17%. This inequality is not only present in North America, but can be seen around the globe. I believe it’s important to not only examine the statistics, but also to consider why we aren’t moving forward. The Guardian looked into these questions, and found that one of the biggest factors is that plenty of companies are resisting the change because many simply don’t in fact see the benefit of pushing for gender equality.
In my opinion there are many advantages to hiring women; studies show that they are generally more detail-oriented, better at working in teams, and many women intend to stay in their community for a long time, making them a reliable employee. However, the combination of the difficulty of receiving a high level position as a woman, as well as the income gap, means that working in the business world is simply not a favourable environment for women. Various different groups like The 30 Percent Club have taken on the initiative of not only raising awareness but also making sure that changes are happening. Unfortunately, we can’t rely solely on these groups to change the situation; it needs to be a global initiative. It’s time to change the way corporate executives see female employees and help them realize that hiring women can be a competitive advantage, and not just a quota they’re being forced to meet.
Sources:
http://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/details/society/gender-income-gap.aspx
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/women-leadership-companies-equality-jobs
http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/rc-cr/bc-cb/index-en.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/video/video-just-2-percent-of-tsx-listed-firms-have-set-targets-for-female-representation/article26570751/
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/top-stories/content/20131015TST22325/html/Equality-in-the-boardroom