Every year we see how women are gaining space and participation in different activities and areas of society. However, the path to access the locations of high level business management it is extremely slow.
Gradually greater visibility is perceived, without a doubt, but in numbers show a reality that contradicts the discourse. Inequality between men and women continues to be a structural and systemic issue. The most obvious is the recognition that women they earn on average 30% less compared to men faced with equal work and responsibility.
What explanation can this inequality have? The United Nations (UN) supports this. only 61% of women between 25 and 54 years old fare part of the workforce, while In men the percentage rises to 90%.
Once again, reality shows that there is still a long way to go to achieve the long-awaited equity. According to the World Economic Forum it would be necessary 132 years old so that equality between men and women can be achieved in the world.
If this estimate is true, it is clear that public declarations and campaigns in favor of gender equality are not enough. It helps raise awareness, but it is necessary for cultural change to happen in reality.
At the speed of the technological revolution, waiting more than a century would mean resigning ourselves to the fact that there will be no equity for several generations. The UN, in a positive sense, claims that closing the gender gap would result global GDP per capita growth of 20% across all regions.
What happens in the world is not very different from what happens in our country. At KPMG every year we carry out a statistical survey on the number of women who hold positions in the highest decision-making positions (boards of directors and presidencies) of the thousand most important companies in the country.
In the last one, carried out in 2023, directories made up of 6,000 members and only 17.5% corresponded to women. The progress compared to 2022 was just 1%. And if we focus on women who are presidents of companies/boards of directors, They are only 6.4%. A minimal representation that grows slowly.
Another interesting data comes from KPMG’s recent survey of female CEOs around the world, in which 835 executives from more than 80 countries (including 24 Argentinians) were consulted, who expressed very strong opinions.
Of Argentina’s representatives, just over half (58%) responded that their organization still exists an old boys club decisive factor in company decisions, an index that was 51% worldwide.
63% of Argentine women entrepreneurs said they receive support for their professional careers through a network of female leaders and networking; and 58% believe there is more transparency in having fair wages than men. However, only 13% said gender equality could be achieved in the next few years in the top management of companies. Globally this percentage It was 27%.
We are still very far from the records of European countries and some North American states. Despite this, Argentina It leads the trend in equity compared to other Latin American countries.
Change is slow and the challenge remains to increase this participation in hierarchical and key roles. Fortunately, new generations, growing regulatory and investor demands are pushing companies to promote gender equality, something that affects all industries and businesses.
An incentive for the business world is to understand that this leads to diversity and greater participation of women in decision-making processes a substantial improvement in creativity, innovation and diversity of decisions and, as such, this affects profits.
According to a World Bank study, it is statistically proven that diversity increases the performance of the economy. Hence the importance of making him participate business strategyas well as an organizational culture.
Diagnoses and complaints predominate in public conversation. It is good and necessary not to lose those references that allow us to set up scenarios to be able to act on change.
However, I believe that many problems and challenges can begin to be solved by addressing them from other places. Stop expecting solutions to come only from the outside. There is still much to do, explore and change. Usage the voices and experiences of women who are already on boards and in leadership positions to help create a more equitable and responsive business environment for future generations, accelerating long-awaited change. Have a network and never stop preparing.
Women can do much more by taking the initiative every day, making it known that we have that healthy and necessary ambition to occupy management and leadership spaces. Dare to take risks and be protagonists, a formula that opens up paths.
Source: Clarin
