We are approaching 2018, and you would think by now equality in the workplace wouldn’t be an issue, but you’d be sadly mistaken. As women, we’ve come a long way in business, politics, and society in general. Over the past several decades we have slowly climbed the ladder to equality, but have not quite landed on the same plane in the corporate world as men. Let’s take a closer look at women’s progress in the workplace.
Deloitte’s fifth edition of Women in the boardroom: A global perspective was just recently published and it highlights just how unequal the workplace remains. The report tells us that females employed in Fortune 500 companies in the US account for 20% of board seats. Some could look at this as a positive because it’s an uptick in percentage, but the passionate feminist would recognize the sluggish pace of this improvement and the unbalanced proportion of women to men holding board seats.
There are plenty of qualified female candidates for board positions and other senior leadership roles. Not only would the increase of female board members diversify the corporate environment, but it would also benefit a company’s performance.
We have pushed for improvement and change, but we must push harder. Although there’s a small increasing percentage of female board members in North America, Asia and Europe, there are still countries throughout where women don’t even scratch the surface when it comes to the workforce and we must raise awareness in order to spark change. This issue has been brought mainstream which is causing some of the biggest global corporations to consider focusing on diversifying at a senior level. While this is all good and fine, it is crucial to achieve women equality completely on a global-scale.
As an advocate for women’s equality in the workplace, FemmeNiche plans to launch the event in the Middle East particularly in Dubai, UAE. The effort aims to bring people together. Femme Niche will host activities such as: female leadership panels and discussions, free professional headshots, mentorship programs, networking dinners and be a great place to meet people.
Femme Niche aims to make a difference. We will host the events quarterly.
- Sarah