If employers act now women could hold half of all senior posts by 2030, study suggests
Women could achieve gender equality in the highest ranks of business by 2030, a study with global executives has found.
The global survey, by Weber Shandwick with 327 executive respondents, found that while 73 per cent believe gender equality will be achieved at executive level by 2030, only 44 per cent said there were goals in place to achieve this.
The survey revealed “push and pull factors" around developing and promoting more women into top level roles, with some supporting female advancement and some preventing it. The study's authors urged leaders to act now or risk being left without sufficient numbers of women primed to move into senior positions.
It also warned that employers who fail to act could find themselves in a situation where they need to defend their reputation on diversity in the years ahead.
“Despite a crowded pipeline of talented women eager to reach the C-level of organisations, progress on gender equality remains slow," said Micho Spring, chair, head of global corporate practice at Weber Shandwick. She urged companies to move beyond the current passive, confused or day-by-day approaches.
“It is an imperative that they single out the most persuasive arguments for gender equity and identify approaches that yield demonstrable results for their firms,” Spring said.
In the study six “push forces” were identified as supporting female progression into senior roles, including: media attention on gender equality; a resurgence of the war for talent; recognition of the value senior women add to the bottom-line; increases in female ambition; millennials’ expectations of equality of opportunity; and stakeholder pressure.
Of those surveyed, 43 per cent of female executives said that if changing jobs they would seek an employer which promotes gender equality, while 76 per cent of non-C-Level female executives said they were interested in pursuing a C-level position compared with 56 per cent of non-C-level men.
However, the study also revealed four “pull forces”, which act as barriers to gender equality. These were: gender equality not being a C-level priority; gender pipeline fatigue; the glass ceiling remaining intact; unequal pay undercutting motivation.
The study found only 39 per cent of senior executives agreed that creating a diverse team is a priority, ranking it seventh among a list of 10 concerns.
The number one reason given by men (42 per cent) as the reason women fail to progress was that there are not enough qualified women in the pipeline, while only 23 per cent of women said this was the case. A further 25 per cent of women said equality was not a priority for their CEO, while 18 per cent felt there was unequal pay for equal work.
When asked what the tipping point would be for achieving gender equality, 55 per cent of respondents said that legislation could achieve equal pay as the number one issue, while 40 per cent cited access to universal provision of low-cost, high-quality child care. Pressure from stakeholders was identified as a tipping point by 44 per cent of respondents.
Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist at Weber Shandwick, said: "The writing is on the wall for companies. Achieving gender equality is highly likely to change from a boardroom and executive issue to a consumer one and to do so soon. As media coverage, Millennials, gender-forward pioneers and women make the gender issue ever more topical and urgent, consumers will follow close behind."