5 ways we can work together to accelerate gender parity at work
Gender balance in business: a long way to go
It has been 20 years since London Business School students set up the Women in Business (WiB) Club, a club dedicated to advancing inclusion in business, inspiring future women leaders and improving the opportunities for ambitious women wanting to have their contributions to the economy valued in the same way as men’s.
Since then, there have been many positive changes for women in the world of work, particularly in advanced economies but also in developing and emerging economies. The UAE has put gender equality and female economic empowerment front and centre of its ambitious growth plans. In the UK, the Government has introduced paid paternity leave, a well-documented driver of gender parity. Today, there are six female CEOs on Britain’s 100 largest companies listed on the stock market. In 2000, there was one.
“We must recognise that we have come a long way in 20 years,” said Clare Woodman EMBA2016, Head of EMEA and CEO of Morgan Stanley & Co International, when opening this year’s flagship WiB event in London. She referenced a famous quote by American poet Maya Angelou: “I have great respect for the past. If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you have no idea where you’re going.”
The ex-Clifford Chance lawyer and mother-of-three – and one of the most senior women in Europe’s investment banking industry – also emphasised the importance of celebrating progress, however limited it may feel.
But she added: “We have not come far enough by any means. The World Economic Forum estimates that at the current rate of change, gender parity will not be achieved for another 99.5 years, and I seriously hope we don’t need to wait almost 100 years.
“In order to expedite this and improve the trajectory, it will take constant and consistent focus. It will take huge personal commitment and dedication. People like us, in rooms like this, at conferences like this are going to have to step forward and make the change.”
So much research, including by our own faculty, points to the power of diversity in unlocking creativity and solving the many challenges businesses face today. Women lead differently to men: female entrepreneurs create different types of business to men – and products that are uniquely suitable for women.
"People like us, in rooms like this, at conferences like this are going to have to step forward and make the change"
But women in business are still much less visible. Female entrepreneurs receive less money from investors, and a microscopic amount of patents are filed by women.
So, what can businesses do to accelerate gender equality? What can women do to shatter the glass ceiling? And what can men do to drive a fully gender-neutral workplace – and work in businesses that are more successful as a result? According to some of the panellists at Equall 2020, here’s how we can do it.
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"At Morgan Stanley, we’ve introduced training and structured conversations in formal settings to understand bias and the behaviours that exclude people."
