WOMEN ARE NOT A NICHE ISSUE. WOMEN ARE THE MARKET
A just-released report from Ernst & Young and the World Economic Forum, entitled “Groundbreakers: Using the strength of women to rebuild the world economy,” offers yet deeper confirmation of the chorus that now includes Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women program, the UN, the World Bank and dozens of microfinance initiatives around the world.
Says the report: “Now is the time in history to realize and harness the powerful and positive effect that women’s empowerment and leadership can have on the global economy.”
In 2008, the WEF evaluated the gender gap in 130 countries by measuring gender equality in such arenas as health, education, economic engagement and political participation. The findings? Woeful.
“No country in the world has achieved gender equality,” according to the WEF’s Global Gender Gap Report 2008. The four highest ranking countries — Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland — have closed a little over 80% of their gender gaps, while the lowest ranking country — Yemen — has bridged roughly 47%.
The results of such “disempowerment,” as the report dubs it — I’d use something a lot stronger — emphasizes the irrefutable dollars and sense argument. The numbers are compelling. When women gain economic and political rights, any and every nation fares better, and, therefore so does the global economy. For instance, in its 2007 annual review, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Countries found that the limits on job opportunities for women costs the region between US$42 billion and US$46 billion a year in GDP growth.
And if you think developed countries offer a different perspective, well, think again. “The gender gap is particularly stark in Europe,” says the report. As of 2006, the European Commission found that women account for more than half (55%) of all university graduates, yet their rate of employment was 21% lower than that of men. What’s more, the average wage gap between women and men ran as high as 15%.
In the US, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, while women made up more than a third of all managers in 2006, less than a third of the top 1,500 US firms reported even a single woman among their senior executives. Fewer than 6% had more than one, and fewer than 3% had a women CEO.
Despite that absence of women leaders, dozens of in-field and well-documented studies, including some from McKinsey, prove that when women join corporate boards and executive teams, companies increase profits and management efficiencies.
So what’s required to move the needle? Cultural and political shifts, and no easy fixes.
Harvard University psychology professor Mahzarin Banaji, who works on issues of prejudice and intelligence, points out in the WEF report that standard IQ tests scan only for certain kinds of intelligence. She thinks women’s particular talents and potential are overlooked. “It is clear that intelligence comes in myriad forms, not one,” she says. “Perhaps because men were the creators of intelligence tests, the measures of intelligence were naturally more in tune with what they had themselves achieved and valued.”
Late-breaking research further shows that when groups work on complicated challenges, diverse teams usually perform better than homogeneous ones. Perhaps, says Banaji, standard tests don’t yet measure some forms of talent.
Businesses can profit from such tangible research. And nations ought to be doing the same. We need to rethink the thinking on gender. We need to reconstitute laws, cultural biases, political conventions. I know. I know. It’s a lot and it’s daunting. But let’s begin. Then, not only will the needle start moving but also the economy will turn up.
And who can really argue against that?