By Michel Landel
The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2015 addresses the worldwide imbalance in gender equality and what it means for the future.
In some areas, the news is good. Political representation has improved in the 10 years covered in the study. Half of the world’s countries have or have had a female head of state. And once women attain leadership roles, the number of women serving in senior positions rises. Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon, the country’s first female head of state, has already achieved gender balance in her Cabinet.
Of course, progress can be made under male leadership, too: Justin Trudeau, Canada’s new prime minister, appointed 15 men and 15 women to his Cabinet. And in African countries the number of parliamentary seats held by women increased, on average, by 15 percent from 2000 to 2014. More women than men are pursuing higher education in 97 of the 145 countries included in the WEF report. In the UK and the US, the gender-balance scale in education has actually swung in the opposite direction.
But business has lagged behind these advances: Relatively few women occupy leadership roles, and a troublesome pay gap persists. The average annual pay for women in the countries surveyed is now equal to what men earned a decade ago.
Women make up the majority of skilled workers in 68 of the 145 countries. Yet, they’re the majority of top managers in only four of those countries. Multiple studies have made the business case for more women in leadership roles. A recent report from McKinsey Global Institute estimated that gender equality could add $12 trillion to global growth.
A country-by-country comparison shows a correlation between economic performance and gender parity. A Credit Suisse Research Institute report found that companies with women directors outperformed those without women directors in average growth and return on equity. The case can’t be clearer—gender balance in business can’t be labeled purely a women’s issue or a matter of diversity for diversity’s sake. It’s an economic imperative.
Michel Landel is the CEO of Sodexo, a global and diversified services company headquartered in Paris.