In 1884, the first women were admitted to McGill University – 63 years after the University’s founding. Today nearly seventy percent of McGill’s student body is female. Yet there remain significant gaps in women’s post-secondary educational and career advancement. Women continue to be underrepresented in certain fields, such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), as well as in leadership roles ranging from a mere 20% to 40%. Although making headway in both areas, women are far from achieving gender parity, i.e., representation equivalent to their percentage of population and equal to that of men. For individuals who identify as non-white, the contrast is even starker, with less than 14% of higher education leaders, for example, being from racialized population groups.
In many instances, women find themselves able to enter certain careers, but steadily losing ground. In so called “legacy industries” such as aerospace or defense, women make up only about 18% of managers or commanding staff. Even when women and men are equally represented in entry level roles, it is not uncommon to see the numbers of women decrease and the proportion of men increase as one moves up the ranks to senior management and leadership roles. In aviation, women account for only 6% of CEOs in 2022– and that was already double the numbers noted in 2019.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment is the 5th of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations established for themselves in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As the UN noted in its 2022 Report, progress has been “sluggish” at best. Women still only hold less than 27% of parliamentary seats. They accounted for a disproportionate share of those who lost gainful employment during the pandemic for example. According to the UN, “[c]ommitment and bold action are needed to accelerate progress, including through the promotion of laws, policies, budgets, and institutions that advance gender equality”.
So why do these data points matter and how do we address them?
There appears to be a high correlation between organizational performance and outputs, and gender diversity in leadership. One report by McKinsey (2022) consultants suggested more than a 50% increase in financial performance for companies led by diverse teams. In addition, the financial gains, women in leadership can bring to an organization, they also contribute to the advancement of more inclusive, more socially responsible, and sustainable outcomes. Increasingly, it has been noted that the absence of women in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence constrains not only the socio-economic advancement of women, but in fact reinforces systemic bias in everything from algorithms to solutions to complex problems. From a basic parity perspective, gender equality is not just good for society, but it is a moral imperative, a basic human right.
Access to opportunities for women are necessary but not sufficient conditions for women to attain leadership. At McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, we are working to address the entire pipeline of women’s professional development and advancement, whether through programs in applied artificial intelligence or leadership courses for women in aviation and other fields.
As we celebrate International Women’s Day, think about what YOU can do to empower women around you. Can we do more?