In today’s society we often like to think that we have progressed and are progressing towards gender equality on many fronts, but especially in the workforce. As Jennie Yan pointed out in her blog post RE: the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s suggestion that the Ontario Securities Commission introduce a regulation mandating that requires all companies who are traded publicly to have at least three women on their executive boards, one of the above statements is not necessarily true. While gender equality in business has progressed in a general sense, on the executive level women have accounted for 11% of executive members for a while now. The expectation on part of the OTPP is that the increased ‘equality’ on the executive level will have a trickle down effect on the rest of the company.
While the premise of the OTPP’s suggestion is notable, in practice it may not necessarily work as intended. For example, by allotting a certain number of spots to any one section of society, be it women or otherwise, it restricts the hiring abilities of companies.
That’s not to say that equality in the workforce should not be elevated, but perhaps through different means. Instead of allotting a certain number of board of directors positions for women, why not empower women in business and push them to attain that level on their own terms? By mandating a certain number of spots that a company MUST fill it would seem that a company would easily be able to find a loophole to prevent the intended purposes of the regulation. Rather than mandating job quantities, companies should be mandated to do more to empower women, to decrease sexual harassment, and to promote equality in the workplace on an individual level by teaching.
Sources:
Jennie Yan’s Blog – https://blogs.ubc.ca/jennieyan/2013/10/07/gender-equality-in-the-osc/
The Globe & Mail – http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/companies-should-have-3-women-directors-or-face-delisting-teachers/article14721742/
Picture Courtesy of Entrepreneur Magazine