The Business Case for Global Gender Balance

According to a new report from the European Commission, the economy would benefit by having full representation of both men and women in top positions. The report, “More women in senior positions – key to economic stability and growth,” shows that women continue to be severely under-represented in economic decision-making. In the corporate world, men account for nearly 89% of the board members in Europe’s biggest listed companies. Norway stands out as the only country nearing gender balance with 42% women and 58% men on the boards of the largest listed companies – the result of a legal quota. At the same time, several studies now show that there is a positive correlation between the share of women in senior positions and company performance. For example, a study conducted in Finland found that firms with a gender-balanced board are on average 10% more profitable than those with an all-male board.
Additional evidence of the importance of involving women in the economy comes from the study “Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity”. On a global average, a women is still 21% less likely to own a mobile phone than a man. This figure increases to 23% if she lives in Africa and 24% if she lives in the Middle East. There is considerable evidence that greater mobile phone penetration rates are associated with faster economic growth, job creation and profitable businesses. A recent study by Ovum (2006) showed that the mobile industry had already created 3.6 million jobs (directly and indirectly in India and was expected to add a million more jobs annually). Additionally, a survey in South Africa and Egypt found that 62% of businesses in South Africa and 59% in Egypt attributed increased profits to mobile phones (Vodafone, 2005).
Women business owners in particular perceive the phone as an essential productivity tool, with more than half saying they have used a mobile phone to earn additional income. These statistics indicate a strong link in increases in mobile phone penetration and faster economic and business development. However, “the business case for Gender Diversity is crystal clear for most senior managers,” reports Diversity consultant Michael Stuber from his talks, presentations and workshops with top leaders. “The real challenge is to get the male middle ranks beyond their emotional reservations based on stereotypical perceptions of women”. This assessment is backed by many surveys of female talent, that shows prevalent biases that are often difficult to address.