Understanding the underrepresentation of women in senior leadership: Root causes and solutions Elba Pareja-Gallagher October 16, 2015 @ShowMe50org ShowMe50.

Understanding the underrepresentation ofwomen in senior leadership:

Root causes and solutions

Elba Pareja-Gallagher

October 16, 2015

@ShowMe50org

ShowMe50

www.ShowMe50.org

Achieving Gender Balanced Leadership

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• The “business case” for gender balanced leadership

• The root causes of the stubbornly low numbers

• An integrated strategy that starts at the top and engages

men

• The solution requires you. We can achieve our potential

and own our success by becoming catalysts for change

inside our companies.

Learn about Solutions

significance

Senior Leadership in Corporate AmericaWomen remain grossly underrepresented

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Women in Management1

>51%

Women CEOs2

Less than 5%

Women Board Directors3

19%

1 Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm2 Catalyst http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/women-ceos-sp-5003 Catalyst http://www.catalyst.org/blog/catalyzing/disrupting-default-gender-diversity-corporate-boards

9/30/15 Wall Street Journal• Remain underrepresented at every level• Face more barriers and less likely to reach senior

leadership positions• See an uneven playing field—a workplace tilted against

them

Studies show a correlation between gender diversity in leadership positions and improved financial performance

ShowMe50TM infographic. Data source: http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/bottom-line-corporate-performance-and-womens-representation-boards-20042008https://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/index.cfm?fileid=8128F3C0-99BC-22E6-838E2A5B1E4366DF

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“The closer that America comes to fully employing the talents of all its citizens, the greater its output of goods and services will be. We've seen what can be accomplished when we use 50% of our human capacity. If you visualize what 100% can do, you'll join me as an unbridled optimist about America's future.”

- Warren Buffett

Gender Diversity in Leadership Positions = $$$

©2013. Time Inc. All rights reserved. Translated from FORTUNE Magazine and published with permission of Time Inc. Reproduction in any manner in any language in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

• Boost productivity• Optimize 100% not just 50%

From the pages of

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Leverage Talent

6ShowMe50TM graphic. Data from: http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/why-diversity-matters

Better Reflect the Marketplace

7ShowMe50TM infographic. Data from: http://www.bcg.com/expertise_impact/publications/PublicationDetails.aspx?id=tcm:12-39511

Strengthen Corporate Reputation

8ShowMe50TM graphic. Data from: http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/why-diversity-matters

Increase Innovation

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ShowMe50TM infographic. Data from: http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/first-step-link-between-collective-intelligence-and-diversity

If all that is true, why don’t we have gender balanced leadership?

Root Causes of Gender Imbalance in Senior Leadership

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1

Root Cause

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2

Root Cause

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3

Root Cause

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Root Cause

Root Causes of Gender Imbalance in Senior Leadership

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What’s the solution?

Influence our companies to changeOptimize 100% of the workforce leveraging the ShowMe50 Win-Win Checklist

Who wins? Employees, Customers, Communities, Shareholders

1 Catalyst: Beyond Flexibility, Work-Life Effectiveness as an organizational tool for high performance; 2008.

Education of employees and managers about stereotyping and gender bias

Objective and transparent performance evaluation and talent management systems

Work-Life Effectiveness (WLE) approach to workplace flexibility1

Accountability

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What Does Gender Bias Look Like?

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7fLH/pantene-labels-against-women

Education of Employees and Managers About Stereotyping and Gender Bias

Provide skill based training to educate managers about stereotyping

Teach techniques to override automatic tendencies to use stereotypes

Implement a system of checks and balances to safeguard against stereotypic bias

Adapted from Catalyst: Women Take Care, Men Take Charge: Stereotyping of U.S. Business Leaders Exposed

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Objective & Transparent Performance Evaluation and Talent Management Systems

Partially adapted from Catalyst: Women Take Care, Men Take Charge: Stereotyping of U.S. Business Leaders Exposed and A Bright Spot Case Study: How Diverse Slate Policies Help Close the Gender Gap

Clearly define and communicate performance evaluation and candidate job selection criteria

Create explicit decision rules about how evaluation criteria are weighted and applied

Post and effectively communicate all jobs internally

Implement diverse slate policies

Utilize panels of diverse, bias-trained interviewers for candidate selection

Publish career development programs and their qualifications

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Establish work practices that create business agility

Use employee needs, interests and concerns about burnout as a catalyst for creatively designing work

Give employees with significant parental responsibilities more time to show they’re qualified for promotion

Establish alumni programs for women who need to step away from the workforce; tap their expertise to show that returning is possible

Work-Life Effectiveness (WLE) Approach to Workplace Flexibility

Adapted from Alice H. Eagly and Linda L. Carli, Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership and Catalyst: Beyond Flexibility, Work-Life Effectiveness as an organizational tool for high performance.

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Accountability

Starts at the top with the CEO

Commit and sustain financial resources

Hold senior management accountable for diversity within all business activities and evaluate managers based on their ability to achieve diversity goals

Show results: move statistics meaningfully toward achieving 50% women in director and above positions

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Integrating men in the gender conversation• Two gender solution

• Engage men in dialogue

• Grow revenue• Improve profit• Enhance reputation

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Infuse Gender IntelligenceGreat minds think unalike

https://youtu.be/ha_BBtu_XME

How do we execute?

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We CHANGE the Landscape

It starts with YOU – your leadership courageOwn your success, be a catalyst for change

Three things we can do to advance women’s representation in leadership positions: (1) invest our time, (2) invest our political capital and (3) invest our money.

- Sallie KrawcheckChair Ellevate Asset Management, past CEO, Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney

LinkedIn Post 5/27/15, What We Can All Do To Close A Gap That Matters

What’s your significance?

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• Create motivation to act

• Provide ability to execute through seven toolkits

Learn the facts and start the gender conversation at work with women and men

1. Introduction and Overview2. Gather Facts About Your Company3. Learn About Gender Bias4. Learn to Influence Change5. Build a Coalition6. Talk to Your Boss and HR7. Sustain Momentum

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Key Takeaways and Next Steps

• Companies will benefit financially when there is gender balance in leadership

• Leverage the free toolkits, presentations, Q&A and other resources on ShowMe50.org to learn the facts and increase your confidence

• Start talking about gender intelligence with women and men at work

• There is power in numbers – join with peers to talk to HR about how you can work together to build a roadmap of policy changes

• We cannot keep waiting for corporate executives to voluntarily change, it’s time to nudge them

Use your political capital to drive a grassroots movement inside your organization

#NoMoreExcuses

@ShowMe50org

ShowMe50

www.ShowMe50.org

[email protected]

Institutional Investors, Corporate Executives and D&I Experts are coming together for a symposium to drive change

Skytop Strategieshttp://skytopstrategies.com/gender-equality-in-the-c-suite-and-board-room

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