I was asked on International Women’s Day, “Do you think corporate Australia understand the need for gender equality?” It’s a tough question. While I hear many stories highlighting how women are supported in to leadership, I hear just as many to the contrary.
It is easy to praise companies when they elevate women to management or board positions. Congratulating these women, and the companies that appreciate their talents, is important. But the glass ceiling is very much alive beyond high profile announcements.
When comparing the ASX200 to the ASX500 we can particularly see divergence. There’s a significant gap when it comes to women in leadership between those companies that face greater scrutiny and those that do not. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency summarises that in the ASX500 women make up just 9.2% of directors compared to 17.6% in the ASX200.
So why is the ASX500 sluggish on women? Because we have not paid them enough attention.
Examining and reporting data is an integral tool for gender equality and business. While a carrot works better than a stick, nothing works better than competition, and the top companies in Australia are vying to be seen as diverse and inclusive organisations. And we’ve been reporting on their direct progress when it comes to women in leadership for years.
The three hundred companies that round up the 500 after the ASX200 are major contributors to the economic landscape, as well as major employers of women. We need to talk about them a lot more as most are simply not supporting women and diversity enough.
The Australian Institute of Company Directors believes progress made on board diversity is heartening, but that more needs to be done. The focus cannot remain on those just at the top because that is not systemic change, it is merely good business for them. The motivation to achieve gender equality must be broad to achieve the best results for Australian productivity and for all Australian women and men.
If we want women to have the same opportunities as men, the reality is that leadership and governance measures to support women do not end at places like Telstra or Wesfarmers. True gender equality starts much further down the list of company size. And if women can’t get opportunities at less ‘prestigious’ or smaller companies, they may not get the experience larger companies believe they need.
To be serious about gender diversity there needs to be a greater emphasis on everyone pulling their weight. We need to ask the hard questions to every CEO and chair — not just those in our largest organisations. We can all buy into the rhetoric but unless we see a call to action across all corporate Australia and more, then limitations will remain for women in leadership.
I thought about some of this when I was answering the question on whether Australian business understands the need for gender equality. There’s been some improvement in this regard, but we’re nowhere near the point of contentment. We have to keep pushing.