Women in Nigeria make up 49% of the population but only 4% of law makers

BY NWAMAKA OGBONNA, LSE

This article best reflects the status quo for women in Nigeria. Nwamaka Ogbonna looks into the gender inclusiveness of Nigeria’s legislature, business and corporate spheres and the results are not good: 4% in the legislature, 20% in the formal business sector and 11.7% among board directors in the corporate sector.

She concludes that a more holistic approach is needed and I could not agree more. Everyone has a role to play and government must take the lead.

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Why gender balance can’t wait

BY MICHEAL LANDEL, CEO OF SODEXO HBR

This article presents the perspective of a CEO who is proactively working to achieve gender parity in his organisation. He is confident because he has data which proves Gender equality will significantly enhance the profitability at his organization.

This emphasis on the business case for gender parity is what I like about this article. With Mckinsey Global Institute reporting that roughly $12 trillion can be gained through gender equality, it’s time we told the naysayers that opposing gender parity is like leaving good money to rot on the table and that’s bad for business.

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Little improvement for women at work

BBC News, International Labour Organization – ILO

This was one of the first articles I read about IWD 2016. According to the ILO, women’s participation in the workforce has improved by a mere 0.6% relative to men’s in the past 20 years.

I think the issue is definitely not solely about whether women are able to enter the workforce. It is about whether women are able to remain in the workforce throughout their working lives and if so, under what conditions. This ILO report should encourage countries and labour organizations to look into what women experience throughout their working lives.

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Women lagging behind in race for apprenticeships

BY NADIA KHOMANI, THE GUARDIAN

Apprenticeships and vocational courses matter because a university degree cannot and should not be the only path of entry into the workforce. That is why Nadia Khomani’s article about how women are underrepresented and underpaid in apprenticeship jobs in the UK is important. It is one more reminder of the multiple facets of gender disparity in the workforce.

It’s worth pointing out that the situation in many parts of the world probably mirrors that of the UK on this issue. In Nigeria for instance, seeing women in certain professions is very much a novelty. Women Taxi Drivers, Mechanics, Carpenters, Plumbers and Technicians are rare even in the most cosmopolitan cities.

The workplace culture associated with these professions is hostile to women. Changing it as well as gendered notions of certain professions and skills is crucial.

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How society teaches women not to be competitive

By ROXANNE BAUER, ECROC-WORLDBANK

I think the issue of competitiveness among women can be a thorny one because when misused it more or less blames women for the effects of sexism they endure such as delayed promotions and lesser pay.

Many decades ago, the focus had been on liberating women’s aspirations from gendered norms rooted in biological determinism and the notion that women are simply inferior to men. This meant asserting that women could be leaders, engineers, mathematicians, scientists, CEOs, etc.

To a large extent, this has become fait accompli in many parts of the world (though countries like Nigeria still have a long way to go) and yet widespread gender disparity lingers. Many studies have now shown that the problem is not entirely that women are always overtly excluded or that women believe they are less capable. Studies suggest that a critical factor is how women approach risk and reward, a key component of competitive situations.

In patriarchal societies, women are socialized to be risk averse. This has a direct impact on how women choose to handle situations of high risk and high reward. The writer is correct in concluding that ‘teaching competitiveness’ will not solve the problem of gender disparity. It is true however that when we become more conscious of the fact that as women we are socially wired to avoid risk, we will be better positioned to steer our lives and careers favourably.

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Teach Girls to be brave not perfect

BY RESHMA SAUJANI, Founder – Girls who Code

Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls who Code, makes a very important point about why women are risk averse. To her, its less about confidence and ambition and more about how girls are raised. As she puts it, women are socialized to be perfect while men are socialized to be brave. Her TED talk starts on a very personal note but is really about how she and her partners have been able to teach girls to aspire and build courageously through her tech organization – ‘Girls who Code’.

3 Imperatives to achieve gender parity

BY ROHINI ANAND, SENIOR VP @ SODEXO

This is an article written by a female member of the corporate C-Suite to other business leaders. It briefly outlines 3 things business leaders must do to accelerate our global race to gender parity.

According to the writer (and I could not agree more), equal pay for equal work is a right and should be ensured as such. Also, businesses should proactively seek to get women into leadership positions by training, mentoring and actively combating unconsious biases that keep women from rising through the ranks.

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12 steps to achieve gender equality in our lifetimes

BY ANNA LEACH, THE GUARDIAN

For IWD 2016, a panel of experts gathered to give their take on how to tackle the problems that continue to affect women in politics and in the workplace. Anna Leach distills their comments into 12 insightful recommendations. They are each worth thinking about and some, like ending child marriage and sexual violence, go without saying.

Gayati Buragohain of Feminist Approach to Technology asks rhethorically “Can girls and women access equal resources, opportunities and rights without access to technology?”. Patricia T Morris asserts that “The unpaid work women and girls do provide the foundation for the global economy” and as such, ‘women’s work’ should be valued immensely (‘women’s work’ should be paid work).

Finally, Christine Hunter’s comment is a call for women to anticipate and strategize to address the inevitable backlash that comes when women begin to enter male-dominated spaces.

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Why even Danish companies struggle with gender diversity in leadership roles

BY MAI-BRITT POULSEN

Barely 2 weeks ago, the Danes were feted as the happiest people on earth. So it’s a bit surprising to read that they have many of the same gender equality issues as the rest of the world. The good thing about looking into the Danish case as this writer does is that it gives us a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the factors at play.

This article is written in 2 parts. In the first, the writer looks into why there’s a gender gap in top management positions at Danish companies. One very important explanation for this is that decision makers tend to underestimate the ambition of female candidates. This has to do with the fact that how women lead at work is often misperceived and undervalued. It is hard to disagree with a female leader who is quoted as saying that “there’s an implicit bias in how ‘talent’ is defined”

In the second part, the writer proposes 3 ways of tackling these problems. Making gender diversity an agenda and providing career planning to women are the top 2 suggestions. The third one however is probably the most significant. The writer proposes that more flexible working arrangements be made an option for more employees and that opting for greater flexibility should not be punished. It is worth mentioning that the penalty women pay for maternity leaves and other family-related work interruptions is one reason why the pay gap persists. It is also why women generally rise through the ranks at a slower rate than men.

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10 smart ways to shatter the glass ceiling

BY KATIE BURKE, HUBSPOT

While many articles are addressed to governments, organizations and society at large, Katie Burke’s article speaks directly to women. I like that she begins by making it clear what the ‘glass ceiling’ is. It is the idea, enforced culturally and sometimes politically, that there are positions and roles which women cannot or should not occupy.

Her tips are very insightful. Among other things, she reminds women that the need to be perfect, to deny and conceal vulnerability, holds us back. It shows up in subtle and overt ways, but its effect is the same. Perfection might seem like a standard worth aiming for but all too often it becomes a self-imposed constraint. It is the reason we often feel we are not good enough to compete let alone win.

Katie Burke also links to many informative articles. I suggest you make time to read this one indepth. It’s worth your time!

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Could this be the secret to closing the workplace gender gap?

BY JESSICA LONG, MANAGING DIRECTOR – ACCENTURE STRATEGY

In this article, Jessica Long discusses key findings of recent research by Accenture which shows that Digital Fluency can be leveraged to increase the rate of progress towards gender parity. She defines Digital Fluency as “The extent to which people embrace and use digital technologies to become more knowledgeable, connected and effective.”

Accenture’s research report is worth reading. Having surveyed 4,900 people in 31 countries, their key findings (not surprising) are that Digital Fluency positively impacts education and significantly expands employment opportunities for women. Their groundbreaking assertion here is that by proactively increasing Digital Fluency among women, gender parity may be achieved in nearly half the time it will take otherwise.

It should be said that this definition of digital fluency leaves out the fact that women need to be engaged as creators of technology not just users. Many commentators have said that the lack of women’s input in technology creation is one of the reasons why we have glaring gaps in the functionality of technologies like smart phones.

Not long ago, it was news that digital assistants like Siri and Samsung S-voice were not programmed to help in situations of rape and sexual abuse. They knew what to suggest for heart attacks and suicidal thoughts but not what to do when a problem which will affect 1 in 3 women arises.

So, to rephrase Accenture’s assertion, by achieving robust digital fluency among women, we will probably achieve gender parity in half the time predicted.

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Female executives say participation in sports helps accelerate leadership and career potential

BY ERNST & YOUNG, LONDON

In 2014, Ernst & Young conducted a research survey on the impact of sports on women’s leadership skills and career advancement. They surveyed 400 women executives across 4 continents. 94% of these women had previously or still actively play sports.

The surprising thing is that while 3/4 of the women executives said being competitive is an important leadership skill, competitiveness was not identified as one of the top three leadership skills developed by sports. The top 3 skills are: The ability to see projects through completion, motivational-skills and team building skills.

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