This International Women’s Day, UN Women wants us to focus on how we can create equal access for women and girls to education, employment pathways and financial services and literacy.
The theme for IWD is ‘Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress’ and it centres women’s economic empowerment as a core component to creating a gender equal world. As CEO of UN Women Australia Simone Clarke has pointed out, there is a valuable return on investing in women and girls. Not only does it benefit women in a personal sense, it can help create stronger communities and economies.
“When women are empowered to have their own voice, agency, and full participation in economic decision-making, everyone benefits,” Clarke said.
Just last week, the gender pay gaps of 5000 organisations were exposed by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, firmly bringing the inequality that exists for women in the workforce to the fore.
It highlights that, if we are to break down the barriers holding women back from reaching their potential, we need to start transforming many of the underlying structures that exist in workplaces, homes and wider society.
Below, we take a look at some of the key measures we can take to ‘count in’ Australian women.
Let’s translate women’s success in education attainment to success in the workforce
Australian women are among the most highly educated women in the world. Women are more educated than men, yet we are much less likely to work full-time than women in many other comparable OECD countries. On average, women work 32.5 hours per week compared to 39.3 for men, while women account for 70.4 per cent of the part-time workforce.
Systemic barriers like unaffordable childcare, the burden of care and domestic labour, and pervasive gender stereotypes continue to hold women back from accessing paid work in the same capacity as men. There is so much to gain by levelling the field for women, including adding $128 billion to the economy – as highlighted by the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce – through boosting women’s workforce participation and productivity.
Let’s make flexible work more accessible
As we look to ‘count her in’, a key way we can do so is by making flexible work more accessible to women and men alike. As Katriina Tähkä, Managing Director of Cultivate Sponsorship, recently told Women’s Agenda, unless we start seeing those in senior leadership roles working flexibly, we will not close the gender pay gap. Flexible work options are frequently made available in organisations, but too often these options and roles are stuck well below the leadership levels. It means talented women end up missing out on reaching their potential.
Options like job-sharing (especially in leadership roles) and hybrid working are important for many women. Likewise, reducing the stigma that exists around flexible work for men is important so that men can help share the load of care at home.
Let’s track men’s uptake of paid parental leave
While reporting the gender pay gaps of large companies is a vital step towards gender equality, one suggestion put forward last week was around tracking men’s uptake of parental leave.
As Charlotte Mortlock suggested, one of the best ways to close the gender pay gap is by getting men to take parental leave, so that having a child doesn’t solely disrupt a mother’s career.
As we know, motherhood attracts a significant earnings penalty. Across the first five years of parenting their first child, women’s earnings are reduced by 55 per cent on average. During the same time men’s earnings remain unaffected.
If some companies are doing better at encouraging men to take parental leave, perhaps it’s something that other companies could learn from. Data from WGEA shows that in 2023, men accounted for just 14 per cent of all paid primary carer’s parental leave taken, just a tiny increase of 0.6 per cent. Addressing stigma and underlying stereotypes , as well as removing ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ carer labels that are so often attached to parental leave policies, would be a good starting point.
Let’s get more senior male leaders engaging with female talent
Another key measure that could help boost women’s economic inclusion this International Women’s Day, is encouraging organisations to encourage more senior male leaders to engage with female talent.
Often, there is a disconnect between an organisation’s lower and middle workforce and its senior leadership level, which we know is often made up of more men than women. Sponsorship programs are excellent tools that can support organisations in connecting male leaders with women working in a range of roles.
Building these first-hand relationships at work is important in creating understanding and empathy between colleagues. And as we know, it’s often male leaders who hold the keys to making change in organisations.
One leader who participated in Cultivate Sponsorship’s flagship program recounted how connecting with female colleagues in a formal way, made him want to advocate for their career goals.
“My leadership legacy is no longer about myself or my success,” the leader said. “It’s about lifting my team members and folks that I sponsor to reach their career goals. And I am glad to advocate for more women after this exercise.”
Another participant, a sponsee, said that after participating in the program, they felt their “direct and stakeholder executives are now aware of my desire to take on more responsibility and complex work based on my experience”.
Indeed, getting more women into senior leadership is not only about unleashing women’s untapped potential, but it will help the imbalance in women’s superannuation and retirement wealth.
Let’s boost financial literacy for girls and young women
To create economic inclusion, building the foundations of financial literacy for girls at a young age should be a priority for our education system.
Financial independence is crucial for women. It’s the key to breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty and it allows women to access the resources they need to leave abusive relationships. It also means women can better manage their health and manage their reproductive choices.
According to a report from AMP, there are significant financial implications of the financial literacy gender gap, including poorer investment decisions and lower wealth accumulation for women.
When it comes to financial literacy, knowledge is power. Governments have a role to play in creating financial literacy classes in schools, encouraging more girls to study economics in high school and providing better access to financial counselling for women at all stages of their career.
You can find out more about Cultivate Sponsorship here.