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How AI can help close the gender pay gap and eliminate bias (Work2030, April 2019)

4/24/2019

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202 years. That’s how long it will take to close the gender gap unless we speed up the process, says a recent report by the World Economic Forum.
And looking at the statistics, this makes sense. A recent study by Pew Research found that the gender pay gap has narrowed but stayed relatively stable since… the 80s.
Somehow, we’ve learned how to build self-driving cars and smartphones with more computing power than the first computers used in space travel, but we still haven’t figured out how to pay men and women equally.
Luckily, social and government-led pressure is mounting. Movements like the Women’s March and #metoo are bringing discrimination into the spotlight, while many countries including Denmark, the UK, France, and Germany are now requiring companies to report on their gender pay gap every year.
It’s not just society and governments. With so much evidence of the bottom line benefits, diversity can bring to a company, more and more are looking to close their pay gap in order to attract more diverse talent.
With so much will and incentive to finally close the gap, why are we still not making gains? The emergence of new technologies may be able to give us the answer.
Why we’re not making progressIn a strange turn of events, Google recently reported it found a pay discrepancy which would actually have resulted in male engineers being paid less in 2019. Rather than it being a difference in salary, the discrepancy resulted in a larger percentage of discretionary funds being allocated to female engineers. As a result, they corrected this mistake ahead of time by increasing the expected wages of thousands of male Googlers.
Coming from a company which is now facing a potential class-action lawsuit from current and former female engineers and an investigation by the US Department of Labor for discrimination in pay and promotion, the new report is certainly raising eyebrows (and eye-rolls in some cases).
Google’s data only compares employees within the same pay grade. According to the New York Times, one of the plaintiffs bringing a lawsuit against the company claimed she was hired in at a lower level than male engineers with the same experience. Critics argue it’s likely the discrepancy actually comes from more experienced women being hired in at lower levels and then allocated more discretionary pay to compensate for the clear mistake in leveling.  
It’s examples like these which clearly show the cracks in our data when it comes to solving the gender pay gap.
One of the biggest problems companies face is seeing the symptoms of the gap but not actually having the insights to identify the causes within their unique structural makeup. At the moment, most companies have their payroll and HR data on two separate systems meaning that discrepancies resulting from issues in their hiring or promotion structures aren’t accounted for.
Because of this lack of insights, we’re seeing a lot of companies spend massive amounts of time and resources on strategies that simply aren’t working. But AI and machine learning may be able to provide a more microscopic view of what’s actually happening.  
Can AI and machine learning help close the gap?Zara Nanu, CEO of Gapsquare, a software service that’s helping companies address the gender pay gap through its AI and machine learning technology, explained her view.
Oftentimes, companies will go through an almost manic push to solve their gender pay gap problems quickly. For example, some will try offering high starting salaries to attract more female applicants in the short run but, ultimately, if inequalities still exist in your leveling and later promotion and pay structures, this won’t result in a long term solution.
“Instead, we need to help companies understand how those discrepancies can be covered in a more sustainable way that doesn’t disadvantage either gender. It’s not about stealing a slice of the pie; it’s about building the pie together equally,” she explained.
Gapsquare’s technology allows companies to run their payroll and HR data through one system. Using AI and machine learning technology, they’re able to merge and analyze the data together providing expertise in three key areas:
  • Identifying any existing pay discrepancies based on gender but also ethnicity, disability or any other employee characteristics
  • Insights into why these gaps exist based on a combination of data and academic expertise from the backend
  • Opportunities to take more data-driven decisions to narrow these gaps
As Nanu explained, a company’s data is often based on “complex reward and compensation structures with over a thousand different elements of pay.” With Gapsquare’s software, companies can look at both outright salary based inequalities but also, for example, discrepancies which could arise from less visible factors like housing and car allowances.
With this information, companies can zero in on which departments or at which levels glass ceilings exist and use data-driven decisions to create real sustainable change.
“Gender equality can be a very emotional and political topic within a company. You get people engaging in debates about whether they should introduce quotas or targets or other methods with very little action actually happening in the end. Whereas, with the software, we have the numbers and a graph and an explanation of why the numbers are what they are. This makes it a lot easier for managers to start taking data-driven decisions and moving things along,” she remarked.
The irony of using AI to tackle biasIronically, the AI field itself has one of the biggest gender gaps. Currently, only 22% of the AI workforce is made up of women. According to Nanu, “the gender pay gap is three times higher in AI. This is a major problem as this technology is actually shaping our future.”
At just 17, Sara Conejo Cervantes has become a spokeswoman for AI and gender, having spoken at the UN AI for Good Summit and the AI Europe Stakeholder Summit this past year. She explained that the looming gender pay gap is already top of mind for her and other girls looking to get into the field.
“If I go into the field and I have a colleague who is being paid more just because of their gender, I would feel like I’m losing out on something. It creates a path where women feel they have to prove themselves to be able to take on that role.”
The massive gender gap in the field is already showing its effect on the AI-powered tech we’re using today. For example, voice recognition bots like Siri, Alexa, Google Home, and Cortana all feature female voices as their primary setting.
“There’s a study that shows if you speak to Alexa or Siri in a passive-aggressive or even abusive way they usually brush off what you say or respond with a flirtatious remark.”
Just like in other applications of AI, we’re starting to see this issue more and more as it enters the field of HR Tech. Amazonattempted to use AI to create a fast moving recruitment tool, only to find it learned to penalize female applicants by allocating lower scores to resumes with the word “women’s” as in “women’s chess club captain” or those who attended women’s only colleges.
The problem is that AI and machine learning technology uses historical data to learn and make decisions. Ultimately, if your past data is biased, the outcomes will be too. As Conejo explained,
“Right now is when we’re starting to spot these patterns in algorithms, in particular in AI, and if we don’t start fixing them now, it’s going to be very hard in the future as they’ll already be deeply embedded into these algorithms.”
Gapsquare’s team also faced this challenge. The interesting thing they’ve found is that, after you take away the parts of a gap which can be explained by performance, length of service, and educational level, you’ll then still have about 60 percent unexplained which can be directly attributed to bias and societal norms impacting women’s career progression.
Their team is now working with experts from Harvard and the University of Exeter to introduce different parameters which take bias into account, essentially filtering out past discrimination. This will take time but:
“The way we see our work is that, yes, we’re now using AI to see how we can specifically unpick bias in recruitment and career progression but, at the same time, we want to make sure that what we develop is then applicable to other spheres where we will start to be more aware and conscious about bias and the need to control for it,” Nanu shared.
Using data to finally close the pay gapIf the WEF’s prediction is true, it means that young promising engineers like Conejo still won’t see the gender pay gap close within their lifetime. As Conejo explained,
“It’s not really in our control and that’s why, when I speak at conferences and other events, I really try to bring this up. If someone is doing the same job, they should be paid equally. But I tend to see that the people who are there don’t really have much interest in what I’m saying, both because I’m very young and also a female.”
Perhaps, with more women leveraging AI and machine learning to filter bias out of our data, we’ll have the insights we need to finally start narrowing the gap.
“If I walk into a board room and see there’s one woman standing in a crowd of 20 men it’s obvious there isn’t diversity and we need to encourage it. I think having the data can really reinforce that,” Conejo concluded.
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Exclusive: Minister for Sport Mims Davies pledges to increase participation numbers among girls and women (Jeremy Wilson - Telegraph, March 2019)

4/6/2019

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Mims Davies, the Minister for Sport, has pledged to make increased participation among young girls and women, and a transformation in the visibility of elite sportswomen, cornerstones of a new Government drive for sport.
In her first national newspaper interview since succeeding Tracey Crouch, Davies outlined how a cross-departmental school sport action plan this spring would target worryingly low activity trends among children, especially young girls. She also praised The Daily ­Telegraph’s “brilliant, leading” revolution in its coverage of women’s sport.
Sport England’s Active Lives survey found last December that only 17.5 per cent of children aged between five and 16 are meeting the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines of more than 60 minutes of activity every day. Girls were found to be significantly less active; a finding consistent with similar research by the Youth Sports Trust, which reported in 2017 that fewer than 10 per cent of females aged up to 18 were meeting the recommendation.
Davies described the findings each a “wake-up call for the sector” and, as part of tackling this “huge challenge”, has called for physical literacy to be given the same status at school as maths or English. 

“We are really concerned about the inactivity of our youngsters,” said Davies. “If you don’t get a sporting habit for life when you come through school, it is more difficult to come back.
“We want a balance of sports and activity, physical literacture and well-being. As a minimum schools must ensure children are physically literate. It is just as important that parents encourage kids to be active as it is to read them books or do times tables.
“As parents, we have to not only think about their safety and opportunity, but their activities. Are they doing enough? Are they getting outside in the fresh air? Go out. Get muddy. Be adventurous. Children need to learn how to run, jump, throw, catch. Those basics will allow them to thrive in broader ways.
“If we don’t sort out participation – across schools, communities, ­governing bodies and making this a Government priority – we end up picking up the pieces in the Health Service anyway.”
Davies also cited a recent question-and-answer session with children in Hampshire. “One young girl put her hand up and told me that she wasn’t allowed to play rugby at school and that it wasn’t fair and equal. I think it is really important for schools to look at what availability there is.

The Telegraph Women's Sport manifesto
The Telegraph is making a commitment to transform the profile of women’s sport and its visibility in the media with the launch of a major new editorial initiative, Telegraph Women’s Sport (TWS).
TWS launches with the following manifesto. It will:
- Address the under-representation of women’s sport through increased editorial coverage in digital and print media.
- Celebrate women’s sport through the introduction of standalone channels, dedicated products and the integration of content into existing Telegraph sections.
- Campaign on key issues to inspire women’s participation in sport from the grass roots to elite level, and hold to account those responsible for its development and organisation.
- Grow audiences by investing in specialist women's sport journalists and encouraging more female bylines.
- Develop the TWS brand to maximise its appeal with readers and sponsors alike, and offer multiple opportunities for interaction and collaboration.


“If there are concerns about risk, then governing bodies can help schools to understand or adapt how things are played. We have to make sure if you want to have a go, you have a fair chance.”
The detail of the school sport ­action plan is still being finalised across the Education and Health ­departments, as well as Digital, ­Culture, Media and Sport, but one specific Government target is for 500,000 people to be more regularly active by 2020, of which half are women.
“The answer has to come from across the country,” said Davies. “This is not just schools, this is ­parents, the wider community and governing bodies.” 
It is also the media. Davies joined Telegraph columnists Dina Asher-Smith, Judy Murray and Maggie ­Alphonsi at the Piccadilly Circus launch this week of Telegraph Women’s Sport. In an unprecedented publishing commitment, The Telegraph has pledged to address the under-representation of women’s sport through increased editorial coverage and will also campaign on key issues to inspire women and girls’ participation.

Davies described the initiative as “simply a massive chance to effect change” in women’s sport. “The more you see people who look like you the more you feel you can achieve it,” she said. “That’s visibility. That’s real equality. Sport for women shouldn’t be niche. Women’s sport on television remains too much of a novelty. We have some of the most amazing sporting stars on the planet. I recently met Nikita Parris. What a role model. What a star. Dina Asher-Smith, Laura Muir – so inspiring.
“There is a golden opportunity for media to hook into what is huge interest. There is a huge opportunity for sponsors and business. Not just to change and inspire our young girls and young people into more activity. This could change the whole activity of the nation.”
Davies, who became MP for ­Eastleigh in 2015 and was appointed Minister for Sport last November, said she fell in love with sport at school, where she played netball, football, rounders and was one of two girls in the cricket team. 
Her father “thought looking after us was watching sport on TV”, but that only reinforced this passion. 

“I loved the camaraderie – my best was 27 not out,” she said, laughing, before adding, “I like to think I was a pioneer.”
Davies entered politics after ­“being the woman who went to the council complaining about play ­facilities” and “got involved ­because I found people who hadn’t been to a leisure centre for 15 years making the decisions”.
Davies has two girls, aged nine and 13, who enjoyed getting active in local junior park runs and now compete in swimming and cricket.
Paula Radcliffe is a particular personal inspiration and, while Davies describes herself “as unfit as I have been for some time” and “pretty rubbish”, she will be lining up on Sunday at the Eastleigh 10 kilometre race. 
“With small children, finding the time became more ­challenging and that was where running came in,” she said. “Sunday’s race is sold out and 46 per cent of the participants are women. It is one of the fastest growing sports for women.

“You can put your trainers on and go … as long as you can find your sports bra.”
Davies has run in the London and Brighton marathons, and while her new job and Westminster’s wider political intensity have curtailed bi-weekly runs, she is determined to get back into the parks of London.
“It’s absolutely right that women feel that activity is as important a part of their life as anything else,” she said. 
“Find something you love and stick at it. Sport is a great stress reliever. You will meet friends. It helps your broader sense of well-being and that inspires other women and girls to get involved. 
“Research shows if you are more fit and healthy as a woman, you are more likely to get your smear test and have mammograms done.
“The wider challenge is great, but the opportunity is fantastic. I am not in politics to make something unachievable. We are in this to turn behaviour, change the dial and allow our children to get a sporting experience that will set them for life.”

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USNWT gets $718, 750 from LUNA BAR to make World Cup roster bonuses equal to men (Alyssa Roengik - ESPNW, April 2019)

4/6/2019

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The U.S. women's national soccer team got a helping hand in its pursuit to close the pay gap with the men's program thanks to a donation of nearly three-quarters of a million dollars from LUNA Bar.
The company publicly announced its donation Tuesday in conjunction with Equal Pay Day -- but Clif Bar & Company owners and co-CEOs Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford, and Ritu Mathur, senior director of marketing for LUNA Bar, flew to Tampa to present the gift to the team at a Players Association meeting on Feb. 19. U.S. Soccer was informed of the donation Monday night.
"Gary started speaking and we were all like, 'What's the catch?'" USWNT forward Alex Morgan told espnW last week during a media day in Los Angeles organized by LUNA Bar. "But there isn't one. They want to close the gap. They want to be on the forefront of this movement."
The idea for the donation began with a conversation between LUNA Bar representatives and Becca Roux, executive director of the USWNT Players Association. "Just before the New Year, I got an email asking how LUNA Bar could support the women in their quest for equal pay," Roux said. "After that, it all went extremely fast."
Roux and her staff identified several wage gaps between the men's and women's national team programs, including the World Cup qualifying and roster bonuses, before settling on the World Cup the roster bonuses as "a clean, clear way to show a disparity," Roux said. U.S. Soccer pays members of the women's World Cup a roster bonus that is $31,250 per player less than it pays members of the men's team. To close that gap, LUNA Bar made a $718,750 donation to the Players Association with the stipulation that the money would be used to pay each of the 23 members of the 2019 World Cup team $31,250 to make up the difference. The women are also eligible for Olympic qualifying and roster bonuses (the men's tournament is restricted to players under 23), which also narrows the bonus gap if the team qualifies and competes in the three-week quadrennial tournament.
The team, which was asked to keep the donation a secret until the public announcement, joined in a federal class-action lawsuit filed March 11 against U.S. Soccer alleging institutionalized gender discrimination and seeking equitable pay and treatment.
"They did this for the whole Players Association, which is a huge statement," USWNT midfielder Megan Rapinoe said. "It forces other brands to look in the mirror, whether they want to or not. It forces our federation and other companies to ask, 'What is our responsibility and what can we do in this fight?'"
"What's cool about this donation is that so much of the fight for equal pay is exactly that -- a fight," USWNT striker Christen Press said. "We've taken a lot of pride and put a lot of energy toward that fight, and it's something that we want to be part of our legacy. It was handed to us and we will pass it to the future generation.
​"In a moment like this, when LUNA comes from the outside and steps up, it shows that this fight is so much bigger than us. It celebrates how we can uplift each other. That's a slightly different message that goes beyond sport and this team and says, 'Let's all help each other. Let's swim in the same direction and we'll get so much further.'"


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All three players said the reason they took the time to fly to Los Angeles for a day of media one week before kicking off a busy slate of friendlies was because they were uplifted by the opportunity to discuss pay disparity in a positive manner.
"We're so often in this position of fighting, so our voice gets boxed in," Rapinoe said. "It seems like every time we speak to the media, it's something negative, but it doesn't have to be that way. Contrary to what the federation thinks, we actually prefer to give shine and be positive. We don't see this as a zero-sum game."
Press, who was one of the chief architects of team's current collective bargaining agreement (ratified in April 2017), said she would also like to see the narrative around the USWNT's fight for equal pay shift to place less focus on comparing the women with the men's team. "I would like to see our team celebrated for who we are and not fight over who's been more successful and who deserves to be paid more," she said. "The idea of equal pay is to give both teams equal opportunity to be their most successful selves."

In addition to making the donation, LUNA Bar enlisted Press and former USWNT captain and ESPN broadcaster Julie Foudy to provide advice for women on negotiation tactics in the workplace, which will be available starting Tuesday on lunabar.com. "We negotiated this collective bargaining agreement and it was a huge process, but the same principles apply for any negotiation," Press said. "Every woman should feel empowered to ask for her worth and when you do, here are steps to take to put yourself in the best position. The only way to achieve equality is to hit it from all angles."
On March 9, Adidas said it would pay its sponsored athletes on the Women's World Cup-winning team the same performance bonus granted to their male counterparts. But Roux said LUNA's donation is the first of its kind that the USWNT Players Association has received. She hopes it's not the last.
"There are so many brands doing campaigns around equality. It's very trendy," Roux said. "The Nike commercial that aired during the Grammys was beautiful and tugged at your heartstrings. But this is way cooler. I would love if this starts a new trend in how brands activate around women athletes. I would love to see other brands in other countries step up for their national teams and support them in the same way. That would be a dream."
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Do Women's Networking Events Move the Needle on Equality? (by Shawn Achor, Harvard Business Review, February 2018)

12/12/2018

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Recently, I was flying home from the Conference for Women, where I had been invited to speak. I was carefully holding a copy of the conference program on my lap — my mom likes to save them, and I wanted to be a good son and bring her back an unwrinkled copy. The guy sitting next to me on the airplane noticed it and asked me about the conference. I told him it’s a series of nonprofits across the country that run conferences for women from all industries to talk about leadership, fairness, and success. He then surprised me by saying, “I’m all for equality, but I’m not sure what good a conference will do.” Done with the conversation, he put on his headphones, content in his cynicism as I stewed, trying to come up with the best, albeit incredibly delayed, response.
By the time I landed, I realized the best response to such a cynical attitude would be data. It won’t change anyone’s mindset to just claim that connecting women is “important” and will “have an impact at work and in society.” We need to show that it actually does. That’s why Michelle Gielan, best-selling author of Broadcasting Happiness, and I partnered with the Conference for Women to see if we could test the long-term effects of uniting women. Spoiler alert: The results astounded even us.
In our initial study of 2,600 working women across functions and industries attending Conferences for Women in several U.S. states, we examined several outcomes that occurred in the year after the women attended the conference. Since women who attend a conference might be different demographically and psychographically from women who elect not to, we used a control group that was made up of women who signed up for a conference but had not yet attended.
As part of the study, we were looking for two types of positive outcomes in women attending a conference: financial outcomes (pay raises and promotions) and intellectual outcomes (increased optimism, lower stress levels, and a feeling of connection). Since we were looking at financial outcomes, we made sure the time period we studied was the same for the research group and the control group, to account for any changes in the larger economic landscape.
For the women who’d signed up for the conference but had yet to attend, 18% received a promotion during the time period we studied, compared with 42% of women who had already attended the conference. In other words, in the year after connecting with peers at the Conference for Women, the likelihood of receiving a promotion doubled. (I wish I could find that guy on the plane to share this stat with him.)
In addition, 5% of the women in the control group received a pay increase of more than 10%, compared with the 15% of women who had attended the conference. That means that in one year, attendees had triple the likelihood of a 10%+ pay increase. (Remember, this isn’t selection bias — women in the control group were also signed up to attend a future conference.)
We also polled the women who’d attended the conference about how it affected their overall outlook. 78% percent of them reported feeling “more optimistic about the future” after attending. While we did not compare this with the control group’s outlook, this still seemed like a significant finding to us in part because of what we know about how a positive mindset can affect other aspects of life. In my HBR article “Positive Intelligence,” I describe how optimism can create a “happiness advantage,” where nearly every business and educational outcome improves as a result.
Perhaps most tellingly, 71% of the attendees said that they “feel more connected to others” after attending. This is important. In my book Big Potential, I outline why the greatest predictor of success and happiness is social connection. Research has shown that social connection can be as predictive of how long you will live as obesity, high blood pressure, or smoking. There is power in connection. I start Big Potential with the story of a study of synchronous lightning bugs from Indonesia, in which researchers at MIT found that if lightning bugs light up alone, their success rate for reproduction is 3%. If they light up simultaneously with thousands of other lightning bugs, their success rate rises to 86%. By lighting together, they could space themselves out to maximize resources, and the increase in their collective brightness would help them be seen for up to five miles! I wrote Big Potential because I have found that if people feel like they are trying to get out of depression alone, or fighting inequality alone, or striving for success alone, they burn out and the world feels like a huge burden. But there is a powerful, viable alternative to individually pursuing success and happiness: doing it together.
I’m not sure every conference would have such a long-term positive impact. I have been to quite a few where either the conference is unengaging or the attendees are disengaged and on their phones. I think it’s safe to say there is an inverse relationship between the benefits you’ll get from a conference and the time you spend on your laptop or phone.
But the key to a beneficial conference, based on my experience speaking at more than 900 conferences over the past 12 years, are (1) a sense of social connection felt by the attendees, (2) engaging sessions, (3) leaders who role model and exemplify the qualities that the conference is attempting to instill, (4) a memorable moment, and (5) a realistic assessment of the present with an optimistic look to the future. Based on the responses of the women in this sample group, we see elevated optimism and social connection, as well as superstar role models (for example, Michelle Obama and Brené Brown also spoke at the event I went to). Moreover, many of the sessions offered practical applications for moving forward at work, such as how to ask for a raise, or stories from other women to let you know that your experiences at work are not unusual or isolated.
Laurie Dalton White, founder of the Conferences for Women, adds, “Something special happens when you see that you are not alone. Making connections and building relationships with other attendees and speakers helps women form an understanding of their worth, and then they learn strategies to ask for promotions, seek fair pay, and even become mentors to others. We invite women like Michelle Obama and Sheryl Sandberg to speak at our conferences not just because of their own personal success stories, but because they are role models who inspire women in both big and small ways.”
There is power in connecting, and it’s not just about gender. Men and women alike can benefit from the power of connection. If you are a manager, encourage your employees to go to events where they can connect with others to remind them that they are not pursuing success and happiness alone. If you are a CEO, invest in conferences that help build up all members of your organization, regardless of where they sit in the organizational hierarchy.
We have so much more to learn about the value of connection in a hyper-competitive world. To the guy sitting on my plane: This research shows that cynicism regarding women’s conferences and initiatives is unfounded, unconstructive, and uninformed. To the rest of us seeking a positive path forward at work and in society, regardless of gender: We must pursue happiness and success together. Like the lightning bugs, rather than trying to light up the darkness alone and in isolation, there is power when we add our light to something bigger. In doing so, we shine brighter.

​Shawn Achor is the New York Times bestselling author of Big Potential, The Happiness Advantage and Before Happiness. He serves as the Chief Experience Officer for BetterUp. His TED talk is one of the most popular, with over 11 million views. He has lectured or researched at over a third of the Fortune 100 and in 50 countries, as well as for the NFL, Pentagon and White House. Shawn is leading a series of courses on “21 Days to Inspire Positive Change” with the Oprah Winfrey Network.
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Investing in gender equality boosts company culture (November 2018 - Sarah Jones, Luxury Daily)

11/1/2018

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Gaining a more gender balanced workforce helps companies succeed. Image credit: Longchamp
NEW YORK – Beyond giving a brand an image boost, achieving greater gender parity among employees and leadership can have an impact on a company’s bottom line.
At Haven Hill’s Symposium on Equality on Oct. 31, speakers conferred about the data behind the need for more gender parity, as well as the ways in which companies can take equality initiatives beyond hollow campaigns. While many organizations recognize the business benefits of gaining more gender diversity in their workforce, truly achieving change revolves around tackling tough topics and shifting culture.
"Millennials want companies that have values, and values are also about diversity," said Yann Borgstedt, founder and president of The Womanity Foundation. "If you want to keep your employees motivated or in your companies, you need to find ways to have more equality and diversity.
"You want to do what is right, but also we want to do what is good for the economy, and if it’s good for the economy, it’s good for kids and it’s good for everyone," he said. "So I just don’t understand why in so many places men feel threatened by giving the same rights and opportunities to women."

Diversity data
Mr. Borgstedt pointed out that while women represent about half of the population, they only hold 21 percent of senior roles and only 3 percent of CEOs are women. Women at the head of startups are also far less apt to get funding than men, despite the fact that female-led ventures tend to see better returns.
The data also shows that having more gender diversity at a company will help employers attract value-based millennials, while also boosting retention.
According to media organization Politico’s CEO Patrick Steel, his biggest challenge is recruitment, particularly because most Washington residents are already employed. Increasing the number of women in leadership positions at the publication has allowed the company to attract more female staff on both the editorial and sales sides.
Women who work for a female manager are 30 percent more apt to feel as though there is someone who is helping them advance. Politico also offers three months of maternity and paternity leave, opening the door to women to feel comfortable and secure about starting families.
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A number of companies have put gender equality on their to-do lists. Image credit: Bloomingdale's
There is a discrepancy between genders on beliefs regarding equality in the fashion workplace, with 100 percent of women thinking this to be an issue, while less than half of men do.
Attributed to the fact that there are many women designers in the fashion and accessories world, many men believe that there is no issue with inequality in fashion. According to a report from McKinsey, Glamour and the CFDA, women start careers in fashion with higher expectations than men (see story).
While there is a lack of gender diversity in everything from politics to corporations, one business that has seen little progress in parity is financial services. Today about 3 percent of women work in wealth management.
Alli McCartney, managing director with UBS Private Wealth Management, said that part of the reason her field is still male-dominated is because it is commission-based, making the potential for losing out while on maternity leave a challenge.
Despite this lack of women in the workforce in financial services, it is becoming increasingly more important for banks and institutions to cater to female clientele. About two-thirds of women say they lead their household, and one-third earn more than their spouse.
Additionally, women are set to inherit money through wealth transfer, and many who have been in the workforce are establishing their own assets. Divorces and deaths of spouses are also requiring women to be more independent about their finances.
Yet with this growing need for advice, women often do not seek out financial services. Three-quarters of women under the age of 40 have no wealth advisor.
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Soft skills will be important in wealth management. Image credit: UBS
Part of this lack of financial assistance may be tied to women’s dissatisfaction with services offered by banks. Whereas men desire results such as power, opportunity and returns from their wealth management, women report wanting aspects such as community and creating an impact and legacy.
Therefore, Ms. McCartney says soft skills will be imperative for wealth advisors of both genders. Managers can also win female clients’ business by offering flexible hours and building trust.

Making moves
While recognizing the need for more gender equality is one thing, putting it into practice is another.
Progress in gender diversity has stalled in the last few years, according to Jeanne Zaino, senior advisor at AppliedTechonomics. Additionally, 20 percent of employees say that their company’s efforts around gender diversity are merely lip service to the issue.
Citing examples throughout history, Ms. Zaino said that those at the top need to make a commitment to change, but diversity initiatives need buy-ins from stakeholders to have a lasting effect.
Getting executive leadership on-board often boils down to speaking their language and showing the risks and rewards of making a change.
In addressing gender diversity, companies also have to look at issues on the local level, as challenges often differ depending on location.
Angela Lee, chief innovation officer and associate dean at Columbia Business School, spoke about overcoming biases and being unafraid to tackle tough conversations.
One thing companies can do is try to remove triggers for bias from their hiring process. For instance, orchestras began doing blind auditions, which resulted in more female musicians being hired.
In the corporate world, third-party services will take demographic indicators out of resumes to do merit-based matching for a position.
Companies may also want to think about how they are wording their job postings, removing language that appeals to certain types of individuals.
Ms. Lee also suggested opening up the door for healthy conflict by having meeting attendees fill out anonymous ideas of pros and cons to a particular plan. Companies can also spur innovation by pushing employees from different areas of the organization together, allowing them to gain new perspective and connections.
For women looking to move up the corporate ladder, Robert Reiss, founder and CEO of The CEO Forum Group, suggests taking on C-level language. Addressing plans as they relate to the organization’s mission and values can help an employee get on the top brass’ radar.
Owning a P&L is another path to leadership, as is identifying a personal brand and strengths and finding a way to show them off.
Lastly, establishing and training a successor opens the door for women to take on new opportunities, ensuring there is someone to take their place.
With only 24 female CEOs in the Fortune 500, Mr. Reiss sees reaching 50 as a goal. At this point, women will reach a critical mass where they can mentor each other and help others rise to the top position.
For women in luxury, the world can sometimes be a hostile place, which is why it is important for them to learn to work together and support each other, according to two entrepreneurs who have done so for 20 years.
At the Women in Luxury 2018 conference, Carrie Ellen Phillips and Vanessa Weiner von Bismarck, two women who have been working together for decades, spoke at length about their experiences as women and entrepreneurs as well as how to build a lasting partnership. One of the things they said elevated them to their current position was their joint work ethic (see story).
“You’ve got to make the investment if you’re going to make these changes,” Ms. Zaino said. “You cannot make a one-time change and then walk away from it.
“You have to continue to assess and reassess what has been the outcome of that reform,” she said. “Because reforms have unintended consequences, no matter if they’re positive or negative.”
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