Although there’s no doubt that much progress has been made toward gender equality in the workplace, gender parity is still a long way off. And that’s especially true for one particular segment of the population of working women, the 18% who work in majority-male companies.
While women still take home just 81 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts and make up only 5.2% of CEOs at S&P 500 companies, women employed in predominantly male workplaces are more likely to face gender discrimination than those in mostly female or evenly mixed workplaces, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
Conducted between July and August 2017, the survey captured the sentiments of America’s female workforce just a couple of months before the #MeToo movement took center stage, empowering women to share their stories of sexual harassment and assault.
Among the most telling findings is the percentage of women who say they are treated fairly in respect to promotions and career advancement opportunities: Only 38% at mostly male companies, as compared to 70% at mostly female. Similarly, 48% of women in majority-male workplaces recall being treated fairly during the hiring process, and 35% report earning less than men doing the same work. Those numbers at majority-female workplaces are 79% and 22%, respectively.
When women are not equally represented in the workforce, they are more likely to be treated as incompetent (37%) and less likely to receive support from senior managers (24%). Forty-nine percent say sexual harassment is a problem, and 28% have experienced it first-hand.
What’s worse, many doubt their employers’ efforts to improve gender diversity, with more than half saying companies aren’t paying enough attention.
It’s not likely that the reported discrimination can be attributed to demographic differences between women in primarily-male and primarily-female workplaces, according to the Pew research, as all those surveyed were of a similar median age and comparable educational, racial and ethnic backgrounds. So then what is the source of this gender inequality?
Corporate culture may be one answer. “In order for there to be true equality, organizations need to create an environment where it’s clear that people will be treated equally,” says Accenture Chief Leadership and Human Resources Officer Ellyn Shook. And it’s up to a company’s leaders to set the standard. Fortunately, there are plenty of approaches executives can take to cultivate a culture of equality.
In the latest installment of Accenture’s “Getting to Equal” research—just one piece of the firm’s ongoing initiative to achieve a gender-balanced workforce by 2025—Shook and Accenture’s CEO for North America, Julie Sweet, surveyed more than 22,000 men and women from 34 countries to identify the factors most prevalent in cultures of equality. They can be categorized into three areas:
Bold leadership, from a team that:
- Prioritizes gender diversity
- Transparently shares diversity targets
- Communicates gender pay gap goals
Comprehensive action, policies and programs designed to promote:
- Recruiting, retaining and advancing women
- Networks for women
- Networks for men and women
- Parental leave for all
An empowering environment, where employees are given the freedom, flexibility and security to:
- Dress however they like
- Create and innovate
- Regularly work remotely
- Occasionally work from home
- Receive skills training
- Opt for virtual meetings instead of long-distance travel
- Report incidents of sexual discrimination and harassment
When these dynamics are at work in an organization, the results are remarkable: Women are nine times less likely to experience sexual discrimination or harassment, and 35% more likely to advance into management. From there, the probability of being promoted into more senior leadership roles increases fourfold.
“The very essence of what our research is about is addressing the things that Pew identified,” says Shook. “Our research doesn’t just study a problem as it exists today, but really gives organizations the toolkit to help them ask themselves the right questions and then go ahead and make progress.”
Shook points to Marriott International where bold leadership, comprehensive action and an empowering environment have been a part of the culture for decades. “Everyone talks about [J. Willard Marriott] as being the founder, but he and his wife, Alice, were the ones who founded the company,” says Shook of the company’s gender-balanced beginnings. Today, a Global Diversity and Inclusion Council, helmed by CEO Arne Sorenson, and a Women’s Leadership Development Initiative, complete with networking and mentoring opportunities, has strengthened its female workforce. Last year, 59% of new hires and 55% of managers and executives were women.
Or consider Alibaba, where CEO Jack Ma has made a concerted effort to recruit and retain female workers by being an “outspoken advocate for equality,” says Shook. Not only do women hold 40% of all roles and make up 33% of executive leadership, but their representation extends onto the e-commerce site itself. “I think more than 50% of the vendors on Alibaba’s platform are women-owned businesses,” adds Shook.
The bottom-line for leaders in majority-male workplaces? “Doing one thing or even five things are important,” says Shook, “but when you do the things that are most significant in the three categories, collectively, that’s when you see the real acceleration of change.”