Positive steps to overcome the equality gap

Women are facing workplace discrimination despite advances

Across the world, women are becoming critical actors in the formal economy. The global, high-tech economy that values brains over brawn has also opened up a host of opportunities for women that were previously not available. In some countries, women form the bulk of college graduates and they are making serious inroads in every field.

As women become better qualified their expertise and experience places them at the helm of even the most complex and dynamic organizations. Marissa Mayer is the president and CEO of Yahoo!, Sheryl Sandberg is thriving as Facebook COO and Indra Nooyi is succeeding as the chair and CEO of PepsiCo.

A survey by the Pew Research Center showed that most people find only slight differences between men and women as leaders.

Also, a study by the women's advocacy group Catalyst shows that Fortune 500 companies with more women in the boardroom perform better and, where at least three women serve, the benefits increase. Companies with more women on the board have a 42 percent increase in return on sales, while return on equity is 53 percent higher and return on invested capital increases by 66 percent.

One would suppose the glass ceiling has been shattered, but it is not the case. The same respondents in the Pew study predicted it would take several decades before women were level with men in the workplace. When asked why, most respondents pointed to remnants of negative stereotypes.

The evidence bears this out. Women at work face a "double bind". Traditionally, females are seen as affectionate, appreciative, mild, sensitive and emotional. Men are expected to be dominant, ambitious, self-confident, rational and tough.

These gender stereotypes create predicaments for women leaders. Because they are often evaluated against this male standard of leadership, women are left with limited and unfavorable options, no matter how well they perform on neutral measures. In particular, three dilemmas emerge that can potentially undermine women's effectiveness and advancement.

First, women walk a fine line where they are perceived as too soft or too tough but never just right. Second, women are judged more harshly, expected to work harder and perform better for the same, or lower, rewards. Finally, it appears women have to make a choice between being competent and being liked.

A second dimension of the glass ceiling is the burden on women as primary caretakers in the nuclear and extended family. Although senior women often make more than their spouses, their male peers are significantly more likely to have a spouse working part-time or not at all. This home-front support that men enjoy gives them an advantage.

Balancing this after-hours role can often add pressure that is too much to bear, leading some professional women to "opt out" of the workplace. One US study showed that a decade after opting out, two-thirds of the women return to work, but to different types of work that offered greater flexibility - and lower pay.

Another aspect of the glass ceiling is the pay gap. According to the International Labour Organization, more than half a century after the United States passed the Equal Pay Act, and 45 years after similar legislation in the UK, women across the world earn 77 percent of the amount paid to men, a figure that has improved by only 3 percent in the past 20 years.

The income of female workers across the world will lag behind men's for another 70 years if the gender pay gap continues to drop at the present rate.

Even those countries that have passed legislation continue to suffer from a stubborn disparity. Data from the US show that in 2013, among full-time, year-round workers, women were paid 78 percent of what men were paid. This gap persists across all states and almost all occupations, and increases with age. Women typically earn about 90 percent of what men are paid until they hit 35. After that, median earnings for women typically drop to 75 to 80 percent of what men are paid.

All these factors offer an explanation for trends in women's participation in the workplace.

What can be done to change this? Women can take some concrete steps. Take the pay gap. Studies have shown that there are several reasons why women's pay lags behind that of men. Most critical is negotiation.

A robust body of evidence indicates that women are reluctant to advocate for themselves, even when they are fierce advocates for others. One study of Ivy League graduates showed women rarely push back when they receive an initial job offer, a reticence that costs them heavily by the end of their careers.

Women also tend to assume that rules and procedures are more fixed than they are. And they expect that hard work will be recognized and rewarded without the awkward dance of politics and self-promotion. As a result, women thrive where promotion criteria are black and white and when quantitative indicators measure performance. Some analysts suggest that negotiation engagement and skill account almost entirely for the pay gap.

Despite all these challenges, there are ways to help women succeed as leaders. At the personal level, research shows that women can make certain moves to improve their odds of success.

On their part, organizations can be more proactive in promoting and keeping their best female talent, including by designing "on-ramps and off-ramps" for workers that must take time off for care-taking. Countries can institute policies that make the workplace better suited for women, from enforcing pay equity and mandating affordable, high quality childcare.

By adopting these moves, society saves the costs of attrition and retraining in a global labor market where talent is increasingly scarce.

Evidence shows that inclusion is not just a nice thing to do. Allowing women to lead and thrive unleashes concrete, bottom-line performance that benefits everyone - in the family, the company and the economy.

The author is the CEO of Scion Real Estate Ltd and a director at Barclays Kenya and Capital Markets Authority Tribunal.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/29/2015 page9)