Gender gap in business leadership could exist for another 50 years: Study
Unless companies make a determined effort to change their priorities, women will continue to face difficulties advancing within the workplace for years to come.
A new study conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value and Oxford Economics, which polled 2,300 male and female executives and professionals across the globe, found that the gender gap in leadership ranks could exist until 2073 unless companies make a concerted effort to prioritize the advancement of women.
Meanwhile, only 38 percent of respondents thought a gender-inclusive organization would be more financially successful. Perhaps that is why around 10 percent of companies have made advancing women into leadership roles a formal business priority.
About 18 percent of senior leadership roles are held by women. But despite the fact that so few women hold executive and other top roles, 65 percent of male respondents said it is just as likely that they would have been elevated to a leadership position had they been female.
Women occupied only 9 percent of C-suite positions.
Many organizations are not sold on the benefits of gender equality in leadership – and therefore do not take concrete steps to advance women’s roles within their organizations, the study concluded.
However, there is some good news. The survey identified a number of so-called “First Movers,” or companies that are paving the way in implementing policies dedicated to advancing women. These companies accounted for 12 percent of the total survey sample. Every one of these companies report being sold on evidence that gender-inclusive organizations are more financially successful. They were 35 percent more likely to provide career development planning specific to women, and 33 percent more likely to provide men and women with equal career opportunities.
These organizations interestingly also reported being more financially successful over the past three years than the respondents as a whole. One-quarter of first movers said they have “significantly outperformed” in profitability, compared to 13 percent of other organizations.
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While the study polled organizations across the globe, the U.S. is not immune from gender-related workplace concerns.
As previously reported by FOX Business, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that women actually earn 49 cents to every dollar a man does.
However, the study found that 21 percent of U.S. men actually believe they would be paid more if they were female. Globally, 68 percent of men believe their compensation would be the same.