This year on International Women’s Day I was pleasantly surprised to see the “BalanceforBetter” hashtag trending on twitter. I believe that women’s achievements should be celebrated every day of the year so, to me, International Women’s Day serves a reminder of the work that remains to be done to overcome the gender bias in our world. This is why I was, excited to see #BalanceforBetter trending, as a timely reminder that a gender-balanced world benefits everyone, both economically and socially.
Equal opportunity
The world-renowned feminist and activist Gloria Sreinem once said, “The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.” Balance is certainly not a women’s issue. It’s a human issue. In an ideal world, we would want a gender-balanced boardroom, a gender-balanced government, gender-balanced reporting in the media, a gender-balance of employees in an organization, more gender-balance in wealth, and a zero pay gap.
To think that we are still grappling with issues of gender parity in today’s fast-paced and evolving world, frustrates me. A gender pay gap affects women throughout their careers. Did you know that women ask for promotions and raises just as often as men, but advance in their careers slower and routinely get paid less than men? What’s more, I am sure many of you or someone you care about has dealt with the misogynistic attitude that women who negotiate more than men in a corporate job are “intimidating,” “aggressive,” or “bossy”.
I have always believed that women employees are often equally, if not more, conscientious and hardworking than their male counterparts. I believe this is because they are so unaccustomed to being rewarded fairly, that doing so immediately has a significantly positive impact on their commitment levels. I have seen women respond to this basic sense of fairness by putting in extra effort that complements the growth of any business. However, when they are underpaid, they are more likely to look for a new job, and this rate of attrition can cost companies money and important institutional knowledge.
There are many different types of inequality faced by women around the world. From negative cultural connotations, to domestic pressures and child marriage, the gender bias takes many forms, globally. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report paints a bleak picture when it tells us that it will take us another 108 years for us to reach gender equality. It’s not an unknown fact that from top CEOs and film stars to healthcare specialists and retail workers, men consistently earn more than women.
A persistent issue
The problem of gender inequality holds just as good at the top rung of the corporate ladder as they are anywhere else in our society. Women make up less than five per cent of the CEOs of major companies worldwide; and even the ones that have reached that station in life are, on an average, paid less than their male counterparts. Women, even those at the top echelons of their career path, are prone to having their appearance and actions judged very superficially.
Sometimes gender-based discrimination is so deeply ingrained in our culture and practice, that it often goes unrecognized. To address the pay gap, companies must accept that all employees have the right to discuss and ask about pay and job opportunities, and that anti-discrimination laws when effectively enforced, benefit women, families, businesses, and the overall economy. Women today make up nearly half of the workforce in the United States, yet continue to earn much less than men. This is despite the relatively occasional instances of major corporations, such as Intel, Amazon, Delta, and Salesforce, trying to set things right by committing to conduct a pay equity analyses, and have set policies to drive diversity and equal opportunity.
So how do we fight discrimination, gender bias, and social gender norms? Equal pay—and gender equality more broadly—is an ongoing process that requires steadfast commitment, collaboration, and a willingness to step up. For starters, companies should have high-ranking women who serve as role models for the whole workforce. CEOs should nurture a culture of mentorship and introduce family-friendly policies – particularly flexible work policies – and a robust and dynamic pay equity process that empowers managers with market information.
Bridging the Gap
Gender equality is one of the 17 sustainable development goals the United Nations has asked countries to achieve by 2030. However, getting more women into the boardroom remains a persistent challenge for many international businesses.
To address the pay gap at the corporate level, companies need to introduce policies and programs to recruit, retain, and promote women. We must sensitize and enable managers to combat unconscious gender biases and contribute to equitable workplaces. Our governments and society should support career women, particularly in non-traditional fields. We should also remove barriers to higher education for girls and encourage them to go for STEM studies. In the UAE, higher numbers of women than men are graduating from universities, paving the way for a greater opportunity to build a diverse workforce. While in the private sector, only 5.5 per cent of leadership positions are occupied by women, we hope that this will change as the UAE vows to become one of the top 25 countries in the world for gender equality by 2021, thanks to initiatives such as the UAE Gender Balance Council and the UAE Gender Inequality Index. Earlier this year at the World Government Summit in Dubai, Jose Angel Gurria, secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, spoke of the right environment that needs to be created for women to go to university and pursue a career. He pointed out that gender balance does not happen naturally and women’s empowerment could only happen with support from a strong leadership.
The emphasis and support I am suggesting isn’t about making a woman a victim. In fact, for many women this inequality has made them stand up for themselves, in turn paving the way for other women in world to speak out and not give in to injustice. Some have quit to fight for their right to be treated in the same light as their male co-workers. Many women have often told me, “why do we have to keep asking for raises and for higher pay?” Isn’t it only fair that if they work well and share equal responsibilities, the rest should follow naturally? I say, what stops you from asking for a better pay? Men don’t hesitate to ask. Till we change the world into a truly democratic egalitarian society, don’t stop asking. Don’t stop from your voices being heard. It’s up to each of us, fair-minded men and women together, to restore balance to a world that disempowers half of us and makes all of us lesser for it.
