Jordan Gaudet, a fellow Commerce 101 student, recently published a blog article titled “Why Are Companies Not On Board With Women Being On Boards?” which stated that a majority of women were not being given the same opportunities or credit as most men. As a fellow female, I feel conflicted about this topic, as much has changed in the world of female employment over the past few decades but I do agree that the level of equality still has a long way to go.
Image One
Whilst Jordan’s point is completely valid, I believe that there are other factors that could cause these statistics. For example, some women choose to take time off to start a family, often taking more time away from employment than just maternity leave. Alex Johnston (Executive Director of Catalyst Canada) said, “For one thing, the myth that there are not enough qualified women – because CEO posts are still dominated by men – needs to be debunked.” Overall, the sheer lack of motivation to put women in executive positions is saddening and a lot more change needs to occur in the setting of goals within companies. Luckily, more companies appear to be making more of an effort to change these statistics as the percentage of women on boards have increased steadily over the last decade. CIBC’s President and CEO announced this week “Our goal is to continue to move that upwards because we think it’s good for the company, it’s good for our culture, it’s good for business.” Hopefully more companies will follow suit in the future.
Sources:
Jordan Gaudet’s Blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/jordangaudet/2015/09/29/why-are-companies-not-on-board-with-women-being-on-boards/
Image One: http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/statistical-overview-women-workplace