Let’s ‘really’ be different on International Women’s Day next year
To commemorate International Women’s Day (8 March), the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) joined over 30 Stock Exchanges around the world aligned with the UN Global Compact, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, UN Women, IFC, The World Federation of Exchanges and Women in Exchange Traded Funds in raising awareness about the importance of gender equality to sustainable.
One of the presenters at the bell ringing to commemorate this day made a reference in her speech about the statue that was put up of a fearless young girl staring down the Wall Street bull in New York. “She (this little girl) was ready to smash the glass ceiling,” she said on the sculpture.
And for me, a woman journalist always trying to reflect on the third side of a story as it were, it is a time to reflect on progress made of this day dedicated for women at the CSE.
What caught many women watching the day’s proceeding was that at the time of ringing the bell to mark this day, ‘two’ women were flanked by six men on the podium. While pondering on the ‘disparity’ of gender balance at this instance, not many were vocal towards the hosts, but were discussing it amongst themselves.
While ‘trying not to find fault’ with the organisers, what most found annoying about this slipup was with the way it wasn’t ‘thought of’. While it is important to recognise all opinions, it is more rational to assume that most men perhaps don’t understand (rather than don’t care about) the issues connected with gender inequality. Seeing gender disparity on the same day that gender parity was being promoted was to most present at the CSE, an eye opener.
Women to rise
There have been enormous changes for women in terms of employment in the past decades, with women moving into paid employment outside the home in ways that their grandmothers and even their mothers could only dream of. But it’s not enough because, at the top of industry and government, the faces stay stubbornly male, which was also the case at the CSE’s bell ringing.
Although a lot of progress has been made towards enabling more women to rise to the top, the glass ceiling is still in fact, quite intact is what Dr.
Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, World Bank Country Director Sri Lanka and Maldives said in her speech.
And many at this forum agreed with her. That’s not because it’s the CSE’s fault. It’s entirely on the thought process of the system. The lack of gender equality extends to women in positions of leadership in local businesses and there’re hardly any female CEOs of top 20 companies at the CSE.
“While many companies are now working to close the gender gap in business leadership and management through financing skills development, training and investing in pipeline development, the challenge remains. It is one of the reasons Goal #5 of the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDG) – achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls – also known as the stand-alone gender goal was developed. The economic case for gender equality is now well justified,” Dr. Pswarayi- Riddihough said.
Gender equality is also central to the World Bank Group’s own goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. The World Bank Group’s Gender Strategy for 2016-2023 outlines the support to client countries and companies to achieve greater equality and empowerment of women and girls.
“It’s now well understood that gender equality is also about changing the norms and expectations about female and male roles, and ultimately changing power relations. No society can develop sustainably without transforming the distribution of opportunities, resources and choices for males and females so that they have equal power to shape their own lives and contribute to their families, communities, and countries,” the Country Director added.
This should be inculcated in the minds of our boards of directors. The private sector increasingly recognises that transforming the way companies do business by a reduction of gender gaps and leadership means better talent, more productivity, more diverse leadership, more customers, and a stronger bottom line, Dr. Pswarayi-Riddihough said. She said noting that promoting gender diversity and equity is key to retaining skilled talent.
“The higher the level at work that women attain the better and more inclusive the decision making process becomes. In particular, board-level diversity allows for a wider range of experiences being drawn on for better decision-making.”
She recognised that women in emerging markets are entering the job market more qualified and in greater numbers than their male counterparts.
“Although women and men have similar levels of education and enter the workforce in fairly equal numbers, the number of women in senior management positions is substantially lower. While the absolute number of women at work is important; it is in itself not the means to an end. Women need to be present in sufficient numbers at senior levels to drive cultural change and better business results.