Closing the Gender Gap: Challenges, Opportunities and the Future
by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)
By 2050, companies that have embraced a gender-blind workplace will be at the leading edge of innovation and profitability, according to a newly-released film by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Gender Advisory Council entitled “Closing the Gender Gap: Challenges, Opportunities and the Future“.
The film grew out of PwC’s commitment to gender diversity, as well as its desire to be a part of the global debate on the role of women as a key component of economic growth. Cleo Thompson, the head of PwC’s Gender Advisory Council, creator of the firm’s Gender Agenda blog and the executive producer of this film project, told The Glass Hammer that the film “encapsulates everything PwC is trying to do from a strategic perspective. It’s not country specific; we’re trying to create debate and global awareness of the status quo.” PwC decided to make a video this year because they wanted a “distinctive product” that could be shared with people to get them talking and thinking about what the world could look like in 2050.
From a wish list of 100 women and men from across the spectrum of experience and opinion–politicians, academics, business leaders–Ms. Thompson and her team created and filmed a group of 15 leaders from all over the world, including South Africa, India, Brazil, and other emerging and established economies. Ms. Thompson worked the list, making personal contact with those who were asked to appear in the film, taking great care to represent a blend of different genders, races, ethnicities and perspectives rather than just UK and American experts.
Ms. Thompson says that the positive feedback on the completed video has been beyond expectation, with one client commenting that:“the film is … powerful, diverse, concise, polished, and hard-hitting. The message is clearly conveyed and the number of high profile participants that you interviewed is astounding.”
PwC has provided the film directly to opinion makers, economists and politicians and intends for it to be streamed at conferences, shown in webcasts, and screened within PwC’s client companies. The film will also be shown at the 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos, and is expected to be shared with the participants at this month’s NASSCOM IT Women’s Leadership Summit in Bangalore, India, where Cleo will be speaking on a panel on the subject of creating competitive advancement through female inclusion.
Among the film’s salient points were the following:
- Competition for talent is intense, particularly in the developing world
The companies that win in emerging markets will be those that use all their talent to its fullest potential. Women will be the critical element in those successes. - Companies need to plug the leaking pipeline
All along the route to senior management, attrition is higher among women than men. Recognizing, then stemming leakage, is key to keeping the skills and talent women bring into the corporate realm. To overcome the leaking pipeline, companies must surmount the triple challenge: women need to see themselves outside their traditional roles; men need to be less exclusive; and society’s expectation of gender roles needs to shift. Additionally, all genders need to be educated; men to help women and women to improve their confidence and level the playing field. - Mentoring is imperative
The keys to keeping women from “leaking out” are to help them realize their skills and empower them to ask for growth opportunities; building great mentoring relationships— with both men and women – and assisting women in meeting family and work goals. - Paths for re-entry into the workforce are essential
Statistics show that countries that make it easier for parents to work and have a family see a better economic growth by women’s participation, as well as an increase in the birth rate. With this in mind, strategies targeted toward women will have the greatest impact on women. For example, TATA, an Indian-based multi-national discussed in the film, has a program called SCIP (Second Career Internship Program) which allows women to re-enter employment on a project-specific basis to help them get a feel for working again after they have left the workforce. - There is a need for a critical mass of women at the top
Building the number of women at the top of companies to a “critical mass” and creates, in the words of one of the fim’s participant, a “lode stone”: 30% of women at the top creates a significant financial impact in the long term. - Men need to be engaged in the process
Encouraging senior men to mentor women, and other courageous schemes are crucial for the future. Getting men to be vocal and supportive of these programs yields great results. Where there are a lot of senior women, it’s often because men took on the role of moving them up the ladder. - Men, as well as women, will benefit from the closing of the gap
Closing the gender gap liberates men. In addressing issues about women, organizations also address men’s issues. - Gender equity can help a country or region raise their GDP.
The results are even more pronounced in the E7 countries of the developing world than in G7 countries such as the USA and Japan.
All the experts in the film agreed that the cost of not closing the gender gap will be seen on the bottom line. The result will be a developmental crisis with economic implications affecting the growth of the company and the economy as a whole. They also agreed that unless this is given priority, women will continue to leak out and go to more gender-friendly organizations. Companies that don’t act now will lose their women altogether or find that a huge part of their talent pool remains in middle management.
The specialists articulated a shared vision for 2050 which includes better conditions in the labor market; men and women working together, equally represented; a gender-blind corporate sensibility; and the explosion of the developing world as they leapfrog past the developed world to close the gender gap. Leading companies will be those who find the way to bring diversity all the way to the top.
