International Women’s Day Reminds Us of Slow Progress

Despite the compelling case for diversity in our boardrooms, IWD remind us progress is sluggish and begrudging.

International Women’s Day diversity | BCBusiness
While International Women’s Day prompts us to celebrate, the day also reminds us that diversity is still a work in progress.

Despite the compelling case for diversity in our boardrooms, IWD remind us progress is sluggish and begrudging.

Thursday is the 101st International Women’s Day – a holiday that often calls attention to women in dire straits in far-off countries. For example, on the eve of IWD, Afghan president Hamid Karzai and 150 Muslim clerics proudly proclaimed Afghan women were essentially downgraded to second-class citizens.
 
But we Canadians shouldn’t feel too haughty upon hearing such extremist nonsense. Here in the Great White North, as in many parts of the developing world, progress for women is hard-fought and painfully slow.
 
The numbers for women in business are barely above abysmal. According to a report from the Ryerson University Diversity Institute profiling the Greater Toronto Area, women are still grossly underrepresented in executive suites. While women comprise a little over half the population (51.3 per cent), women occupy only 28 per cent of upper-level leadership positions.
 
These aren’t even the worst stats. While representation varies by sector, the chief culprit is the corporate sector where women constitute only 17.4 per cent of leadership positions and 38.3 per cent of corporate boards have no female members. Visible female minorities fare even worse with just 2.6 per cent in leadership roles across 11 sectors.
 
While these numbers frustrate me on the base level of being a woman, I’m also disturbed because the case for diversity in business is too strong to ignore. Diversity in boardrooms and businesses ensures we collect a wealth of different, valuable viewpoints. Variety in leadership translates to better addressing the needs of diverse communities, bolsters innovation and provides a competitive edge in global markets.

So, how do we inspire more rapid changes? In the words of Ryerson’s report: “Regardless of the barriers that persist, talented women are succeeding and taking their place in leadership roles. We must learn from and share their experiences in order to inspire and coach aspiring female leaders.”