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No. CCXXI;\u00a0August 25,\u00a02014 I. EDITORIAL — QUOTAS ARE WORKING BUT CHANGE TAKES TIME I. EDITORIAL — QUOTAS ARE WORKING BUT CHANGE TAKES TIME by\u00a0Irene Natividad,<\/strong>\u00a0President, Global Summit of Women and Chair, Corporate Women Directors International<\/em><\/p>\n For the record, quotas intended to\u00a0accelerate\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>women\u2019s access to board seats\u00a0are working\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>in moving the needle dramatically in the appointments of women to this corporate inner sanctum.\u00a0\u00a0France is the best example, where 10 years ago, companies were stuck at 7% women\u2019s board representation, and now a quota law moved that percentage to 30%.\u00a0\u00a0As in Norway, the supply of qualified women was found to be ample.<\/p>\n Beyond Norway,\u00a0there are now 21 countries with quotas for women directors<\/em><\/strong>, whether for publicly-listed companies or those that are government-owned.\u00a0The latest is India, where companies listed in the stock exchange are scrambling to meet an October deadline to place at least one woman on their boards to comply with a law requiring that they do so.\u00a0\u00a0The other is the United Arab Emirates, which passed a similar requirement for companies in which the government has a majority stake.\u00a0\u00a0No one would ever have thought of these economies to be in the forefront of change benefitting women, but there is a clear global momentum to use this strategy that began in Norway.<\/p>\n Whether these countries meet the targeted percentages of women directors or not,\u00a0there will still emerge a far larger pool of<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0experienced board directors who happen to be women.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>This limits many companies\u2019 claim globally of wanting to appoint women to their boards, but they just can’t find them.\u00a0\u00a0Corporate Women Directors International, which I chair, has been conducting research on women directors globally for 17 years, and we have found quotas to be the most effective initiative.\u00a0\u00a0So, yes, women on boards leads to better corporate governance and better financial performance as many studies have shown.\u00a0\u00a0But women themselves benefit from having valuable board experience previously denied to so many.<\/p>\n To measure the impact of this initiative beyond the board room is simply too soon.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Men have been in charge of companies globally for centuries, so the work culture is theirs.\u00a0 I often say that women are ‘immigrants’ to a workplace defined by men.\u00a0 It will indeed take more time for change to filter downward, but our own research shows that it will.\u00a0 CWDI did a study of 112 women CEOs in 39 countries in 2011, and regardless of country, the companies they led had almost double the number of women directors and women senior executives than in peer companies.\u00a0 Women will bring other women along, just give them time. (Click here to see the current listing of countries with quotas for women directors:\u00a0http:\/\/www.globewomen.org\/CWDI\/Quota%20Chart%202013.pdf<\/a>)<\/p>\n Women Board Directors and Executives in Companies with Women CEOs vs. All Companies, 2010<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n II. CHINA’S ALIBABA INC AND WOMEN AT THE TOP<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Twitter and Facebook were shamed into placing women on their Boards when they were about to do an IPO and media pointed out the lack of women on their decision-making bodies.\u00a0\u00a0Given that the majority of Twitter and Facebook users are women, the absence was glaring.\u00a0\u00a0Alibaba, on the other hand, had women who were in the company from its inception and rose up the ranks as the company grew.\u00a0\u00a0The presence of women in charge encouraged female new hires to aspire to move up the ranks.\u00a0\u00a0Role models plus a transparent hiring process \u2013 open positions are emailed to all employees so shy women could apply easily \u2013 ensured a female pipeline.\u00a0\u00a0The company also encourages family-centric activities, which provided support for male and female workers in the company.\u00a0\u00a0While Alibaba may be an exception rather than the rule among Chinese companies, there\u2019s a great deal to applaud in their gender diversity practices.\u00a0\u00a0(Source:\u00a0\u00a0Bloomberg,\u00a0<\/em>8\/20\/14)<\/p>\n III.\u00a0BEING FEMALE AT THE BARGAINING TABLE<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n “We found people were systematically more aggressive to feminine-featured faces,” stated Eric Gladstone, Cornell University doctoral candidate who conducted the study with Prof. Kathleen O’Connor at the School of Management.\u00a0 This bias extended to men with feminine facial features.\u00a0 They, like the women, are more expected to be cooperative.\u00a0 So, what should women do?\u00a0 Know the lowered expactation and see it as an opportunity to capitalize on this bias by negotiating harder.\u00a0 Another suggestion: Consider doing phone negotiations, according to Gladstone and O’Commor (Source:\u00a0Washington Post<\/em>, 8\/13\/14)<\/p>\n IV. WHY SO FEW WOMEN ENGINEERS?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n A National Science Foundation report looked at over 5,000 women engineering graduates from top universities and found that 40 per cent either dropped out or never entered the field.\u00a0\u00a0While work\/life challenges account for some of these decisions, the major reason had to do with the climate in the workplace.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe found that even women who are staying consider leaving because they don’t have supervisor support.\u00a0\u00a0They don’t have training and development opportunities.\u00a0\u00a0And their colleagues are uncivil to them, belittle them, talk behind their backs and undermine them,\u201d states Prof. Nadya Fouad of the University of Wisconsin, who led the study.<\/p>\n These findings were echoed by research conducted by the American Association of University Women entitled “Why So Few?” which showed the role of stereotypes and unconscious bias in deterring women and girls from STEM fields.\u00a0 The study also cited the lack of role models, since only 12% of engineering professors are women.\u00a0 What happened to the women who left engineering?\u00a0 Two-thirds pursued better opportunities in other fields ending up as managers or executives. (Source:\u00a0Washington Post<\/em>, 8\/10\/14)<\/p>\n V. WOMEN AND THE EBOLA CRISIS<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Because women make up the majority of cross-border traders who go Guinea and Sierra Leone for the weekly markets, they are also likely to transmit the virus because of their dual role as family caregivers to sick family-members.\u00a0\u00a0Border restrictions will have economic impact, since it will now be difficult for these women to provide for their families.\u00a0\u00a0In addition, food production could be affected in rural areas where women are also the majority of shareholder farmers.<\/p>\n Training women and educating them on how to prevent the spread of the virus is deemed key to halting the epidemic, according to the World Health Organization.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cBy reaching the women, they are reaching those who can best protect their families, and their own health,\u201d according to WHO spokeswoman Marcia Seeger.\u00a0\u00a0(Source:\u00a0\u00a0The Independent<\/em>, 8\/24\/14).<\/em><\/p>\n Don’t miss the 2015 Global Summit of Women in Sao Paulo Brazil!<\/strong><\/p>\n France’s Minister for Women, Cities, Youth, and Sports Najat Vallaud-Belkacem hands over the Summit to Brazilian delegates\u00a0at the Closing Ceremony of the 2014 Summit in Paris.<\/p>\n Subscribe\u00a0by\u00a0clicking here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nII. CHINA’S ALIBABA INC AND WOMEN AT THE TOP
\n<\/strong>III. BEING FEMALE AT THE BARGAINING TABLE
\nIV. WHY SO FEW WOMEN ENGINEERS?
\nV. WOMEN AND THE EBOLA CRISIS\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
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Just the headline of the June 19th<\/sup>\u00a0New York Times\u00a0<\/em>article on \u201cWomen on the Board:\u00a0\u00a0Quotas Have Limited Success\u201d<\/em>\u00a0is discouraging enough for advocates of women in corporate leadership like me, let alone mislead those unfamiliar with this strategy.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/globewomen.org\/globalsummit\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/cwdi-ceo-chart.png\")
\nSource: CWDI 2011 Report on Women CEO’s: Opening Doors to Boards and C-Suites<\/em><\/p>\n
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China may not have many women directors yet (only 10.9% in its largest companies according to a Univ. of California Davis study), but technology giant\u00a0Alibaba Inc.<\/em><\/strong>, which is readying itself for a much-anticipated IPO, can teach US and European tech companies with their predominantly male personnel that women don’t need to be excluded from this lucrative industry.\u00a0\u00a0Nine of the 27 partners which make decisions for the entire company are women.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>The Chief Financial Officer is a woman\u00a0as well as\u00a0the Chief People Officer.<\/p>\n
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One of the reasons often cited for women earning less than men is that they do not know how to negotiate.\u00a0\u00a0Recent studies, however, also indicate that stereotypes held at the other side of the bargaining table are also part of the problem.\u00a0\u00a0A study published by the\u00a0Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes\u00a0<\/em>journal showed that women tend to be offered less in negotiations.\u00a0\u00a0Stereotypes that women are poor negotiators made study participants want to negotiate against them, while demanding more.<\/p>\n
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Because careers utilizing scientific, technology, engineering and math skills tend to be highly paid and are key to innovation, the U.S. invested in STEM programs ($3.4 billion since 2010) that target women and girls because their numbers are so low in those fields.\u00a0\u00a0Unfortunately, this training does not necessarily lead to more women entering or staying in jobs using these skills such as engineering, where women make up only 11%.\u00a0\u00a0The reason:\u00a0\u00a0a workplace culture uncivil to women.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>75% of those infected or dying from the Ebola virus are women because they are the primary caregivers to the sick whether at home or in hospitals.\u00a0\u00a0They are not only the nurses, but also the cleaners and the laundry workers, where there is a risk of exposure.\u00a0\u00a0Women also prepare the dead for burial, a West African custom not likely to change.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWomen are on the front lines of this crisis,\u201d stated the First Lady of Sierra Leone, Nyaina Koroma.<\/p>\n
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