With the continual struggle to maintain sustainable progress in equality in the workforce, it sometimes feels that we are stuck in a time loop, seeing the same issues arise time and time again.
Hande Yasargil, Lead Coach at INSEAD Business School/Board Director of D&I at EMCC UK and Associate Coach at KDVI, is concerned that history is repeating itself where gender equality is concerned:
On the surface, Diversity & Inclusion appear to be fundamental components of contemporary management philosophy.
However, look deeper, and although gender inequality has been on the table for a long time, and significant progress has been made, it still harbours many invisible threats.
Recent research indicates that, despite no such difference in previous generations, a serious ideological gap has formed between young women and young men in Generation Z: Young women are 25-30% more liberal than young men, and this is the case in many geographies.
This suggests the need for some critical questions to be considered, if we are at all concerned about the health and future of organisations:
- When this generation comes to power, what direction would the values of an institution that does not have enough diversity in its decision-making mechanism go?
- If CEOs and boards continue to be predominantly male, what would companies’ policies on the environment, climate, inclusivity, and gender inequality look like?
- And interestingly, in an environment with high diversity, what kind of culture would the intense difference in political views create?
If we leave the business world below and take a helicopter view, it is perhaps frightening to think about what is happening sociologically and how that may impact the future.
If the future of liberal and social democracy is tied to the future of women, gender inequality in country administrations is even more dangerous. Today, only 26 of the 190 countries (13.5%) are governed by women, and statistical progress suggests that this ratio will not be equalised for another 130 years. Combining the new insights with these statistics and considering them alongside the recent rise of populism and the extreme right, it seems like the burden of saving the world has been left on women’s shoulders.
If we want that to happen, the time for action is now. If the burden truly is on women’s shoulders, we need to do all we can to repair the broken steps, shatter the glass ceilings, and bring more women into leadership roles.
Over the years, KDVI has offered a variety of customised development programmes specifically for women. While these courses always have a place, and positively impact the women participants, we believe that it’s the culture of an organisation that is the critical lever in improving Diversity and Inclusion. That’s why we weave Diversity, Equity and Inclusion throughout all of our work, creating reflective leaders who understand why having diverse leadership teams and organisations is better for business, for clients, and for the world. Want to know more? We’d love to talk.
To find out more on Hande’s thoughts, follow her on LinkedIn.