Call to Arms: Action Items for Executives to Foster Women Leaders
Originally published by Donald Thompson for WRAL TechWire
For far too long business leaders have turned their backs on the challenges women face in the workplace. The nearly unfathomable truth is that by most measurements – pay, work satisfaction, advancement opportunities and other factors – women have not really advanced at all in the first two decades of the 21st century.
As a matter of fact, examining survey and economic data reveals that women have been placed in a no-win situation – facing stagnant or declining wages since 2000 and increased caregiving expectations as older generations’ health care needs have grown. From a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) perspective, I’m not exaggerating when I say the current situation is a national tragedy.
For example, The Gender Gap in Financial Health report, funded by Principal Foundation and conducted by the Financial Health Network revealed women were less financially healthy than men in nearly every statistical category. However, digging deeper among women demographically, the study found that just 11% of Black women and 7% of Latina women are deemed financially healthy, in comparison to 25% of White women. From this perspective, according to the report, all women face “gender discrimination,” but “Black and Latina women face additional challenges…that result from race-based discrimination and decades of disinvestment and marginalization.”
The upside is that this lack of equality can be overcome through collective action by those in power. One of our first steps should be to assert the challenge in stronger terms, since outmoded concepts, like the so-called “glass ceiling,” don’t adequately capture the full extent of what is happening. The call-to-action is direct: If you are in a position to help women, then it is your responsibility to address points of disparity and create equal opportunities for women to excel. We have so much ground to make up. The effort must begin today.