Did you know that companies with the highest percentage of women in management are, on average, more profitable than those with the lowest?
Research was conducted across fourteen legacy industries, which are among the most male-dominated and have wide-reaching environmental, health, and social impact. The research shows that the top-quartile companies with the highest percentage of women in executive management roles are, on average, 47% more profitable than those in the bottom quartile.
Reason? Courage to change patterns.
Across the fourteen legacy industries studied, women on average represent just over 18% of executive management, and hold a mere 13% of board seats. But despite being underrepresented, women interviewed for this study detailed their willingness to initiate change.
Here is what the interviewed women say they actively do:
1) lead their organizations down new revenue generating paths,
2) advance innovation in inertia-prone industries,
3) advocate for products and practices that safeguard against human exposure to harm, and
4) increase transparency to build stakeholder trust.
In addition to contributing to profitability and competitiveness, the study shows that women leaders are also comfortable
- Reducing environmental impacts of business practices and products
- Pushing their organizations to proactively address corporate social responsibility
- Creating inclusive corporate and industry cultures
We are motivated to highlight this study in the spirit of closing a major knowledge gap that remains regarding how women are advancing organizational and industrial transformation. Without this understanding, efforts to increase gender diversity may devolve into superficial numbers games that “fail to tap into women’s talent and institute concrete, meaningful change at scale.”