What’s the Real Impact of One Billion Women Entering the Workforce in the Next Decade?

By Michelle Hendelman, Editor-in-Chief

Last fall, Booz & Company released an interesting report entitled, Empowering the Third Billion: Women and the World of Work in 2012. In this report, researchers attempt to evaluate the impact on the global economy of an estimated one billion women entering the workforce over the next ten years. By placing a value on women in the workplace, the authors of this report hope to encourage governments, business leaders, and key decision makers to invest in developing the knowledge and skills of women in order to unlock their full potential.

The authors of the Booz & Company report address one very important aspect of the problem when it comes to facilitating a career advancement path for women that leads to more leadership roles and senior level positions across all industries. They write, “Despite the admirable efforts of these women—and millions like them in rich and poor countries around the world—they need supportive systems to succeed. Governments and corporations will need to step in with smarter policies that can remove social, cultural, and professional constraints on women and foster greater economic opportunities.”

The Glass Hammer focuses on the developed world for now, so what is interesting about this research is that Booz & Company correctly identifies an issue that is rampant in the United States and Western Europe. That is, the number of women in the workforce is only the tip of the iceberg on the gender diversity issue in the workplace. The bigger question—which has been explored in research by Catalyst—is why are there so few women in executive positions in the Fortune 500?

What are the biggest issues that governments and companies must look at in order to provide meaningful support for women in the workforce? The common global challenges are as follows.

Women are primary care-givers

In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that more women with children are counted as part of the labor force than ever before. However, there is still a juggling act that many women must perform in order to balance the demands at work and at home. How can companies and governments help?

Authors of the Booz & Company report state, “Although specific solutions will vary by country, several elements are critical to any approach to care work. These include widespread, affordable care for children, the elderly, and the sick; cultural changes aimed at dividing care work more equitably between men and women; and private-sector recognition of the importance of care work for all employees, along with accommodations to allow for a healthy work–life balance.”

Women often leave the workforce to raise a family and miss out on valuable career development time. Firms need to encourage women to come back to work and clearly identify a role for them once they do return.

Access to Education for Young Women

This challenge applies more to developing nations where access to education where access to education is not always readily available for young women who wish to pursue careers in the financial sector, professional services, or law for example.

According to the Booz & Company report, “Cultural messages of empowerment ring hollow if women are not educated enough to take their place in rapidly advancing societies, or if there is no place in the economy for them to make their mark.” The bottom line is that it won’t matter how much women are encouraged to “lean in” if they do not possess the tools to progress their career.

Thriving in male-dominated corporate cultures

The Booz & Company report indicates that, “As employers, investors, and consumers, private-sector companies have a number of roles to play in empowering women. By hiring women in developing markets, they can facilitate women’s independence and increase their stature in society. They can bolster their own talent base by creating opportunities worldwide for women to move into senior positions.” This makes a strong case for how diversifying the global workforce by promoting gender equity is good for business, as well as the individual.

These three challenges –caregiver responsibilities, access to education, and gender equity at work –contribute to the glass ceiling and perpetuate the trend of male executives holding the majority of top spots in the financial services, professional services, and technology sector.

The Takeaway

The main question that arises from this research is how to make a connection between empowering women and getting more women in charge?

Our CEO, Nicki Gilmour, comments:

“The first step is for leaders and managers to recognize that there are systemic issues that span beyond any talented individual woman. The glass ceiling exists because of these systemic issues that ensure the status quo or ‘how we do things around here’ attitude is kept in place. Innovation and change is not for everyone, neither at a product or a people level. For this reason, middle managers of both genders who are asked by the HR team to hire more women, may agree verbally, but behaviorally go back to doing it their way –consciously or unconsciously having blind spots around who they believe is a better choice for the job.”

She continues, “Workplace culture is a tough thing to change and there will always be people who consciously or consciously ensure things get done the same old way by the same old types of people without truly examining what smart individuals can offer who don’t fit the conventional mold.”

In order for a recognizable shift in the power dynamic to take place within male-dominated industries, firm leaders and key decision makers must take the lead and implement changes that infiltrate every aspect of the company’s strategy. The Booz & Company report concludes, “Sweeping institutional changes at the national, regional, and global levels can help women everywhere reach their full economic potential and make the contributions necessary to keep the global economy moving forward.”