McKinsey & Company

Women leaders, a competitive edge in and after the crisis

Hei-ock

This report provides a perspective on several levers that could raise the priority of gender diversity and increase the efforts to achieve it within organizations. The first one is to convince the skeptics of the benefits of having more women in top management: after all, there’s still a long way to go to persuade most executive boards and male business leaders of this. The second is to make gender diversity development a priority within organizations. The third lever is the most important for long-term effectiveness: implement appropriate programs. Based on our survey and our experience of companies that are highly committed to this issue, the success of gender diversity initiatives depends above all on deploying comprehensive programs that comprise a broad range of measures. It is not enough simply to provide more flexible working conditions or career management. Reaching a critical mass of women in the top management of organizations requires a critical mass of measures, if we want to create deep-seated and sustainable change.

Ellen Ochoa, Director of Johnson Space Center

Ellen Ochoa Was The First Latina To Go To Space, Now She Shares Her Top Career Lessons

Hei-ock

In 1993, Ellen Ochoa became the first Latina to travel to space after a career in STEM that built up to that moment and yet one of her top career lessons comes from a different part of her life.
“From my Marine friends, I learned to keep focus on two things: (1) accomplish the mission and (2) take care of your people,” shares Ochoa. “If you do #2 well, then your team will take of #1.”
As she thinks back on the things that helped her when exploring a career in STEM, particularly during a time when diversity was less present, Ochoa credits professors who mentored her and helped her visualize the future she wanted for herself and encourages Latinas at the start of their careers to do the same.

The Gender-Balanced Zone Graph, Showing the Positive Effects

Gender-balance Teams Linked to Better Business Performance: A Sodexo Study

Hei-ock

Women remain underrepresented in leadership roles, in spite of research indicating that gender- balanced leadership has a positive impact on the bottom line.
However, gender balance impacts performance only when the optimal balance is reached.
The results of the Sodexo study confirm that this balance corresponds to a male-female ratio between 40% and 60%, reinforcing that diversity is key to enhanced performance.
Entities with gender-balanced management performed better on all of the performance indicators measured, including employee engagement, brand awareness, client retention and three indicators of financial performance.
Teams at Sodexo within the optimum gender- balanced zone have experienced on average an increase of four points in the global engagement rate versus only one point for other teams between 2010 and 2012.

Graph of Pay Imbalance

Women at Work: Women’s Access to Power and the Gender Earnings Gap

Hei-ock

Using a unique sample of 5,022 workers in 94 large German workplaces, the authors explore whether and how women’s access to higher level positions, firms’ human resources practices, and workers’ qualification levels are associated with gender differences in earnings. First, they find that having more women in management reduces the gender earnings gap for jobs with low qualifications, but not those with high qualifications. Second, they find that while men’s compensation is positively affected by having a male supervisor, women with a female supervisor do not receive such an advantage. Finally, they find that human resources practices and job-level qualifications moderate the association between gendered power and gender earnings inequalities. Integrating women into managerial and supervisory roles does not automatically reduce gender inequalities; its impacts are contingent on organizational context.

Portrait of Shirley Chisholm

These Black Women Changed The Course Of History In The Past 150 Years

Hei-ock

The stories, accomplishments and lives of Black women have never traditionally had a place of importance in mainstream history. For centuries, achievements reached by Black women have only ever been celebrated in the Black community, amongst those who knew how big of a deal it was. But as the years have gone by, society has learned not only to embrace these milestones, but finally celebrate the noteworthy accomplishments Black women have brought to the table: Althea Gibson was the first Black woman to compete in the Wimbledon Championships (and win, paving the way for Venus and Serena Williams); Michelle Obama became the first Black First Lady of the United States, who used her platform to spread knowledge about equality, nutrition and general kindness.
But before the world knew the Gibsons, the Obamas and the Harrises, there were the Chisholms, the Hamers and the Mahoneys. From as far back as the 1800s to present day, Black women have been shaking up societal norms and becoming vanguards for positions now deemed normal for a Black woman today to have. These seven women took admirable steps in their respective fields over the last 141 years to become medical experts, politicians, inventors and the like so the Black woman of today could follow their dreams as well.

Image Stating Equality = Innovation, by Accenture

Accenture: Equality Equals Innovation Research Report (2019)

Hei-ock

Accenture has found that a culture of equality—the same kind of workplace environment that helps everyone advance to higher positions—is a powerful multiplier of innovation and growth. Global gross domestic product would increase by up to US$8 trillion by 2028 if innovation mindset in all countries were raised by 10 percent. Diversity positively influences an innovation mindset, and equality is the multiplier. A culture of equality is anchored by three pillars: an Empowering Environment (one that trusts employees, respects individuals and offers freedom to be creative and to train and work flexibly), Bold Leadership (a diverse leadership team that sets, shares and measures equality targets openly), and Comprehensive Action (policies and practices that are family-friendly, support all genders and are bias- free in attracting and retaining people).

Woman Talking to Another Woman

Driving Equality in the Workplace: Practical Solutions to Some of the Business World’s Most Persistent Issues of Inequality

kendra

This content functions as a complimentary resource for those who would like to guide their business culture toward an environment of equality — in turn driving positive returns, contributing to employees’ overall satisfaction at work and thereby decreasing employee turnover, contributing positively to the global economy, and acting as leaders in their industry.

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

kendra

“Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls” is a children’s book packed with 100 bedtime stories about the life of 100 extraordinary women from the past and the present, illustrated by 60 female artists from all over the world. Each woman’s story is written in the style of a fairy tale. Each story has a full-page, full-color portrait that captures the …