Are Women Given the Same Ranks on the Corporate Ladder?
Women have yet to make a breakthrough in the business world or so a recent survey suggests. According to the results, only about 17% of women belong to the corporate board among the Fortune 500. What makes the situation worse is the fact that this percentage has remained nearly the same for the last eight years.
Among the executive suite, similar results have been demonstrated. Women comprise of only 14.6% c-suite positions, which is a fairly low number. Once again, the figures have remained nearly the same for the last four years.
Despite the disappointing stats, there are some companies that believe in the capabilities of women and do give them prestigious positions that are way high up on the organizational hierarchy. A reputed automobile company is about to announce a new GM who is a female. Similarly, one of the biggest social networking sites out there selected a woman for their board just a few weeks ago.
There are many others companies that strive to create gender parity and ascertain that the same is demonstrated not just at lower levels but at the uppers ranks as well. If these companies are evaluated, it is easy to note that women occupy nearly 45% of the director positions. Perhaps this high number is related to the fact that some of these companies deal in products solely related to women, which is why they may prefer to promote them. This cannot be said with absolute certainty because a lot of these companies also deal with products that have nothing to do with women.
A CEO once stated in a press interview that giving women a higher position is not just about being humanitarian. It goes deeper than that because no company can really achieve success if they choose to ignore half of their talent.
The survey also highlighted some practices which companies are trying to follow to promote gender equality. Here is a quick look.
- In today’s era, finding qualified women is not at all hard. Companies should promote talented women.
- Generally, the most important projects are assigned to men. However, they should also be given to women so that the senior leaders become aware of them and consider them should a leading position open in the company.
Source: www.aol.com