The campaign theme for the United Nations IWD 2022 is Gender Equality Towards a Sustainable Future. However, many picked up the action-oriented **\#BreakTheBias** used by **** a commercial entity. Often hidden, bias is blamed for keeping women on the lower rungs of the corporate ladder.

Every day of March 7-11, the week of International Womens Day $IWD$, Growth Faculty was host to free live virtual events with top experts to help leaders become more aware and inclusive. It was an entertaining 5-day series with a serious message - business leaders are holding back talented emerging leaders who happen to be women. If you need convincing something needs to be done, read these leadership facts:

- A third of Australian boards still have **no female directors**. Only **half a percent** of boards have no male directors.

- Australian women hold 15% of chair positions. **Men hold 85%.**

- Women hold just 6% of CEO roles in the ASX300. **94% are held by men.**

- 14% of line roles $profit and loss responsibility roles traditionally seen as the pipeline for CEO$ are held by women. **86%** **are held by men**.

- Australian women make up 33% of key management personnel. **Men make up 67%.**

- During the pandemic there has been a **2% per year increase** in the proportion of women on ASX 200 boards.

- Experiments have shown women who initiate pay negotiations are **judged more harshly by men** for doing so. Men say they are significantly less willing to work with such women.

7 shameful women in leadership facts

Growth Faculty's events for IWD2022 included an interview with Wendy McCarthy AO on her new memoir _Dont Be Too Polite, Girls_. After 50 years at the leading edge of feminism and corporate life, Wendy shared her story and survival tips. McCarthy currently is Deputy-Chair of Goodstart Early Learning, a non-executive director of IMF Bentham, the worlds most experienced and successful litigation funder, patron of the Sydney Womens Fund, ambassador for 1 Million Women, and advisor to Grace Papers.

Dont Be Too Polite, Girls

Founder and Secretary General of the Council of Women World Leaders Laura Liswood will speak about her soon-to-be-released book _The Elephant and the Mouse_ , bringing her extensive expertise on diversity and inclusion to the table. Laura is also the author of _Women World Leaders, The Loudest Duck_ , and _Serving Them Right._

The Council of Women World Leaders is composed of 72 women presidents, prime ministers, and heads of government, and the only organisation in the world dedicated to women heads of state and government.

Global leader to speak

Also during our series of free events March 7-11, delegates heard a keynote address from Jennifer Brown, internationally renowned inclusivity consultant and author of _How to Be an Inclusive Leader_ and _Beyond Diversity_. It was a practical session on the journey to create an inclusive workplace where everyone is welcomed, valued, respected, and heard.

How To Be An Inclusive Leader

Another free live virtual event was an interview with Kemi Nekvapil, author of _Power: A Womens Guide to Living, Leading Without Apology_ and _The Gift of Asking._ Having studied leadership and purpose at The Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan, Kemi is a wellness consultant and international speaker who has trained with Bren Brown as a Dare to Lead  Facilitator. She works primarily with women in leadership to unblock the obstacles that would prevent value based leadership.

Power: A Womens Guide to Living

We will wrap up our 5-day series of free, live virtual events with a panel made up of male champions of change, including Nick Hockley, CEO of Cricket Australia. Leadership in Australia is predominately male, so the issue of gender equality is, by necessity, an issue for men in Australia's executive teams.

Male Panel

There is much to discuss, not the least of which is that gender equality is a human right, and Goal \#5 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

A human right

Graphic: UN Sustainable Development Goals wedding cake, Stockholm Resilience Centre https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SDG\_wedding\_cake.jpg

Businesses wont succeed and society wont thrive without gender equality. A bias culture that lacks diversity may be **less adaptive, creative, and flexible** than is required for the new age. Conversely there is huge upside to promoting women to leadership positions. They are shown to be highly qualified, effective, emotionally intelligent, productive, keen to learn and develop, and great for a companys bottom line. According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agencys director Libby Lyons, an increase of 10 percentage points or more in female representation on boards leads to a **4.9% increase in company market value**  this equates to about AUD $78.5 million.

Less adaptive if there's bias

_This bias just grinds away at \[womens\] confidence, which then affects their competence, and, at some point, attacks their performance." -_ Indra Nooyi.

Bias is among hundreds of issues  some tiny and difficult to pinpoint and some huge and structural says former [PepsiCo CEO and Chair Indra Nooyi](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/blog/Indranooyiquotes), who says she was on the top rung of the  **womens ladder** , a steeper, more slippery ladder than that climbed by men. Her book _My Life in Full_ credits the many male leaders who did help her up the steeper ladder. Australian leadership could take heed.

Bias is a villian amongst many

If we do not tackle gender inequality, a century will pass before corporate Australia promotes women into leadership positions in significant numbers. Companies and leaders around the world need to make a concerted effort to master the **A.B.C.s.** of breaking bias:

- **Admit it**  We are human, biases are there.

- **Block it**  Redesign the system $ie. anonymise resumes$.

- **Count it**  Set specific numeric targets $many companies are setting goals of 40% female, 40% male, 20% flexible$.

- **Support it**  Champion diversity and inclusion. Our free week of events will show you how.

100 years to wait

Growth Facultys access to global thought leaders offers new frameworks and insights to the growing call for change. Inspired by IWD 2022s theme \#breakthebias weve compiled a checklist to help company executives and boards self-assess how theyre supporting women leadership in 2022. [Download our checklist now.](https://thegrowthfaculty.ac-page.com/whitepaperbreakthebias)

_Finally, if you'd like to increase your professional and personal development why not consider becoming a Leadership Pass Holder with Growth Faculty? Unlimited access to 40 live virtual masterclasses and Global Headliner virtual events - PLUS year-round leadership content at On Demand with videos, podcasts and book summaries. Join a community of knowledge seekers who are inspired by the best. Access $7500+ value for just $398 AUD._[ __](https://join.thegrowthfaculty.com/#plans)[**_See what's included._**](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/?promoCode=Blog#plans)

References and further reading:

_Gender Workplace Statistics At a Glance, 2021, and Gender Equity Insights 2020_ , BCEC WGEA Gender Equity Series

M. Donald 2019, _Leading and Managing Change in the Age of Disruption and Artificial Intelligence._

J. Zinger _3 Reasons To Recruit And Select More Female Leaders,_ Forbes

_Inclusify_ by Dr Stefanie Johnson

S.Hardacre and E. Subai, 2018, _Whose Issue Is It Anyway? The Effects of Leader Gender and Equality Message Framing on Mens and Womens Mobilization Toward Workplace Gender Equality_ , Frontiers in Psychology.

K. Evans, 2018,  _Barriers to women in senior leadership in Australian corporations- A Thesis_ , Charles Sturt University

Indra Nooyi, _My Life in Full_

McKinsey & Co, 2021, _Women in the Workplace_

CEW Senior Executive Census 2021

_Creating Pathways to the Board for Women_ , 2021, AICD

Fitzsimmons, T.W., Yates, M.S. & Callan, V.J. $2021$. _Towards Board Gender Parity: Lessons from the Past - Directions for the Future_. Brisbane: University of Queensland Business School.

Australian Government, _2020 Employment Market Projections to 2025_ , Labour Market Information Portal.

_Global Gender Gap Report 2021_ , World Economic Forum

__ _Graphic: UN Sustainable Development Goals wedding cake, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Wikipedia_

IWD 2022: Only 6% of CEO roles in Top 300 firms are held by women

Top D&I thought leaders head up our free series of events for IWD 2022

Keep informed
Stay Inspired

IWD 2022: Only 6% of CEO roles in Top 300 firms are held by women

Top D&I thought leaders head up our free series of events for IWD 2022

Keep informedStay Inspired

Keep informed
Stay Inspired