Let’s celebrate women in the workplace on International Women’s Day
8th March every year marks International Women’s Day, celebrated since the start of the 20th century by socialist movements but adopted by feminists in the 1960s. The United Nations started marking the day in 1975 and today commemoration of the day ranges from a public holiday, to being largely ignored, depending which country you happen to be in.
This year’s theme is ‘I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights.’ Celebrations here in the UK are, to be honest, few and far between.
An event organised by the Wellcome Collection will see an evening of discussion about women’s experiences in industries that are commonly built, and controlled, by men. Google are holding an event around Women Techmakers. And a three day event by Women of the World is timed to coincide with the day, where a well-known panel of guest will discuss big ideas around gender equality.
The issues raised by International Women’s Day invariably revolve around diversity and equality, so how does the digital commerce industry fare in these areas?
Last year, the fifth annual UNCTAD eCommerce Week in April in Geneva saw industry women come together to examine how the narrative regarding women in e-commerce can be changed. The meeting included discussions around how such changes might affect profits and opportunities for women e-business owners
They concluded that women face a triple threat; lack of representation in decision making, unequal access to internet and funding, and the limits imposed by cultural gender biases.
According to Candace Nkoth Bisseck, program management officer of the e-trade for women initiative, “Raising the profile of successful women digital entrepreneurs will contribute to inspiring and empowering the next generation of female entrepreneurs. It will also help to shift gender norms and barriers, increase women’s credibility in the industry, and enable them to use their voice more in policymaking processes.”
Gender equality is not just a moral issue around fairness. In research by McKinsey, using UK and US data, they found companies with more than 30% women executives were almost 40% more likely to outperform on EBIT margins than those with under 30%.
So what can we do in our own organisations to promote gender equality? Is there an invisible glass ceiling the prevents women progressing? Whilst many organisations have a healthy representation of women in middle management, it’s a different story at executive level.
With a gender pay gap of over 17% still the case in 2019 this is something every company can address. Start with your current workforce, and audit your pay, correcting underlying disparities. Then look at how you eliminate bias in your recruitment processes for the future. Transparency on pay is essential.
Challenge barriers that stop women progressing. Policies should support women who take career breaks to have children, or have childcare issues. And look to the future by investing in the next generation of female leaders, with training and mentoring and ensuring that women are visible and valued.
All the research suggests that women want a bigger role in e-commerce. They need to be equipped with the tools, skills and networks that will support them to rise to senior positions.
Do you have any views or experiences on helping women to succeed in the digital commerce sector?
