1. a cause of real concern to a country
whose employment landscape is
growing through tech and science.
Professional services firms suffer a
similar challenge.While female
graduate level entrants often
outnumber their male coutnerparts,
few females make it to partner level.
Often they choose to opt for in-
house or industry roles which can
offer greater flexiblity around family
needs.Across Europe, women make
up 46% of the workforce but only
11% of the boardoom population.
Ireland’s figures are about 40% less
than the European average.
A recent McKinsey survey of 60
major corporations shows that of
325,000 women who had entry level
positions, only 150,000 had made it
to middle management. Only 7,000
made it toVP, SVP or CEO level. Even
when women are able to stay in their
careers long term, Eurostat, suggests
that the pay gap between men and
women in Ireland is widening with
men paid 14% more than women.
A lack of affordable childcare is a fac-
tor in all of this, with Ireland being
amongst the most expensive in the
We await the publication of the
World Economic Forum (WEF)
report on gender equality.A year ago,
Ireland was reported at 8th place of
142 countires on the WEF’s Global
Gender Gap Report 2014.The UK
fell 8 places to 26th. High life
expectancy and equal access to third
level education contrubuted to
Ireland’s strong performance. 8th
place sounds pretty good, but then
we held fifth and sixth places in 2012
and 2013 respectively.
The WEF Global Gender Gap
examines the gap between men and
women in four main areas; Economic
Participation and Opportunitiy,
Educational Attainment, Heath and
Survival, and Political Empowerment.
The first of these looks to a varietly
of career related factors such as
workfore participation, age equality,
along with the ratio of females
holding senior positions or
professional and technical positions.
The Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD)
suggests in a recent study that stereo
types may by turning girls off STEM
subjects. Girls are not keen on tech’s
geeky, anti-social, nerdy image.This is
World for private childcare.
Christine Lagarde, Managing Director
of the International Monetary Fund is
very aware of the distinctly different
support systems offered to Mothers
in Europe. She describes how she
brought up her own children in
France where she had publicly
funded childcare from three months
to three years.
All of which points to an astonishing
loss of opportunity to a small open
economy seeking to grow out of
challenging economic times.The
WEF’s own statistcs show the
startling impact on growth in GDP
that increasing the participation of
women in the workforce can have.A
Credit Suisse Research Report in-
conjuntion with Harvard Business
School tested the performance of
2,360 companies globally over a six
year period. It reveals that not only
would it have been better on
average to have invested in
corporates with women on their
boards, but that companies with at
least one women on the board de-
liver higher returns, better growth
and book value multiples.
Makes you think, doesnt it?
TWO MINUTE LEADERSHIP
THE G ENDER G AP