Gender equality - SUM: Sustainability Management Wiki

Authors: Lea Altenfeld, Helena Schmeink, Eske Setje-Eilers, Meike Staecker
Edited by: Hannah Dahmen, Marco Dorow, Rebecca Katharina Hillebrandt, Mareike Ropers, Svenja Köhler, Lucille Liberra, Van Loc Nguyen, Pauline Charlotte Schütze, Inga Römmer-Collmann, Lea-Sophie Fass, Jana Walkemeyer, Joana Weber, Finja Eiting, Yasmin Gruner, Jennifer Häusler, Marie Hennecke, Gesa Schmidt, Janine Bekel, Denise Ebel, Nele Eilers, Annalena Klauck, Marthe Dreyer, Lea Wieser, Henrik Schneider, Maximilian von Wedel
Last updated: December 30, 2022

1 Definition and relevance

1.1 Definition

Before dealing with the topic of gender equality, it is important to find common ground on the definition of gender and the distinction to sex. This is because both concepts are sometimes used interchangeably, despite differences in their actual meaning. When talking about the sex of a person, the distinction is generally made between male and female, based on biological aspects such as anatomy, chromosomes, and hormones. These characteristics are assigned to the person at birth. ¹^,² On the contrary, gender is based on socially constructed features that relate to the behavior and attributes based on masculinity and/or femininity. It is a personal, internal perception and may not be identical to the sex the person was assigned at birth. Also, gender is not bound to the binary system, and people can identify themselves on the spectrum between man and woman or not at all (non-gendered). In fact, this concept has existed for many years across the world and different cultures. ²

Businesses are gendered organizations and until today, inequalities at the workplace between the genders exist.³ On average, female employees are earning less than men, are less likely to develop their careers as far as men and accumulate less retirement savings. At the same time, many men fear a future professional disadvantage by taking advantage of family-friendly arrangements.⁴ Even if both sexes have the same right to take parental leave without any professional consequences, for example, statistically more women than men still take parental leave.⁵ At the same time, many men would like to spend more time with their families. So, a rethink is needed not only politically, but also socially.. The need for gender equality (GE) consequently is essential. Even though, GE is the fifth of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations,⁶ based on the current rate of progress, the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 reveals that it will take approximately another century to accomplish worldwide GE.⁷ Achieving GE is a crucial part in the fields of corporate social responsibility (CSR).⁸ Gender issues as part of CSR aim to enhance gender equality while discovering and decreasing any existing disparities. Therefore, CSR is an essential tool to establish gender equality in the workplace.⁹ Several definitions of GE exist:

According to the UNESCO’s Gender Mainstreaming Implementation Framework GE “means that women and men have equal conditions for realizing their full human rights and for contributing to, and benefiting from, economic, social, cultural and political development.”¹⁰ Gender equality is therefore the equal valuing by society of the similarities and the differences of men and women, and the roles they play.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) provides the following definition “Gender equality refers to the enjoyment of equal rights, opportunities and treatment by men and women and by boys and girls in all spheres of life. It asserts that people’s rights, responsibilities, social status and access to resources do not depend on whether they are born male or female. […] Gender equality implies that all men and women are free to develop their personal abilities and make life choices without the limitations set by stereotypes or prejudices about gender roles or the characteristics of men and women.¹¹

The definition of the Council of Europe defines gender equality as “equal visibility, empowerment and participation of both sexes in all spheres of public and private life […]. [Equality] is not synonymous with sameness, with establishing men, their lifestyle and conditions as the norm […] it means accepting and valuing equally the differences between women and men and the diverse roles they play in society.”¹²

Even though there is no universal definition of GE, the definitions above agree on the fact that all genders should have both equal rights and opportunity and valued the same without any form of discrimination. However, it is necessary to value different needs of men and women in an organizational environment (e.g., access to different trainings), to reach their full potential.¹³

Consequently, the goal of GE in the workplace is to achieve equal opportunities and outcomes for women and men. This process is also referred to as gender mainstreaming.¹⁴ Corporations must examine and evaluate any measures they wish to take about their impact on GE and, if necessary, take measures to achieve GE. This means that in all phases of planning, implementing, and evaluating measures, the different life situations of women and men and the effects on both genders must be taken into account.¹⁵ Further measures for GE comprise to discover and eliminate systematic disparities in a workplace and consider all genders in workplace decisions. According to Acker (2006) this incorporates how the work is organised and rewarded, development opportunities as well as security in employment. Once all employees in a corporation can access and benefit from equal rewards, resources, and opportunities, regardless of gender, GE can be achieved.³

1.2 Relevance

With the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court in October 2017 (1 BvR 2019/16), Section 22 of the Personal Status Act has been amended in Germany.¹⁶ Ever since, the general right of personality (Art. 2 para. 1 in conjunction with Art. 1 para. 1 GG) also protects the gender identity of those who cannot be permanently assigned to either the male or female gender. With this ruling, some adjustments were made which affect not only the social but also the corporate environment. For example, job advertisements are no longer only advertised for the male and female sex, but also the third gender must be included in the address.

This is just one of many examples that show how the „third gender and pronoun debate” is not only an increasingly relevant topic in society, but also a topic to be considered in the context of work and in the workplace. Employers face questions not only about how to create a fair and safe working environment between men and women, but also how to include non-binary people and how to create a non-discriminatory environment for every gender.

Some considerations every company most likely will have to face in the near future are: Does the company have a gender identity and gender expression policy? How inclusive is this policy? Does the company have active trans allies? What resources does the company provide for managers and people?¹⁷ Another point to be considered is also for example, how many trans and non-binary people the company hires. Since the 1980s, women’s quotas have been understood as an essential instrument of human resources policy¹⁸, but does the company intend to introduce such a quota for the third gender as well? In addition, companies will also consciously have to ask themselves, what the future external corporate voice should be? For example, should official company letters start with “Dear Sir or Madam” or should they rather start with “Dear all”. Furthermore, a consideration concerning the workplace could be about the sanitary facilities, and whether there is a choice for people who are non-binary.¹⁷ These and many other factors will shape the working environment of the future.

One best practice example for an already very mature all-gender-inclusive corporate policy is the U.S. hardware store chain ‘The Home Depot’. The company openly provides multiple resources for employees, which discuss pronouns, privilege, and gender identity.¹⁹ Furthermore, the firm has its own “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” page, providing information, “associate resource groups” and open statements for employees and the public.²⁰

2 Measures of gender equality

The empowerment and participation of women and girls have a leverage effect on economic growth and development and is not only equitable but at the same time indispensable in economic and social terms. Within the seventeen SDGs of the UN, three goals touch the subject of gender equality revealing the relation between sustainability and gender parities: Decent Work and Economic Growth (Goal 8), Reducing Inequalities (Goal 10) and Gender Equality (Goal 5) (UN, 2015).⁶ Resulting, measuring GE simultaneously is a measure of sustainability.

To promote equal opportunity for all and eliminate existing gender biases based on evidence-based practices, measuring gender (in)equality in a company is necessary. Firms need to identify where and why gender gaps exist to decide which measures are most effective for improving their gender diversity.²¹ In detail, measuring gender equality means to quantify differences between groups of men and women regarding “rights and duties, opportunities, and burdens, for instance representation in the political system and working life, incomes, education, health, and parental care”.²¹

Prominent indices to measure GE on a global level are the Gender Development Index by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Gender Gap Index by the World Economic Forum or the Gender Equity Index by Social Watch.²² To measure GE in companies, fewer established approaches exist. Based on the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles, the organisation Equileap developed the Gender Equality Scorecard. With this scorecard, metrics have been identified to evaluate GE in a company. It focuses on the topics gender balance, equal compensation, policies, and transparency.²³ Another approach to measure GE is the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index which is built around a reporting framework. Participating companies can use this blueprint to measure GE focussing on the topics leadership, pay, inclusiveness and policies (Bloomberg 2020).²⁴ Being part of the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards), GRI 405: Diversity and Equal Opportunity “addresses (…) an organization’s approach to diversity and equal opportunity at work”²⁵ by requiring firms to report on their gender composition of governance bodies and employees as well as equality of remuneration.²⁵ In general, using key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics can function as a management tool to achieve gender equality, while additionally serving as a benchmarking tool with other companies.²⁶

Best Practice Example: Sodexo

For the globally-operating French food services and facilities management company Sodexo, having 428,237 employees as of 2019, GE is an indispensable strategic factor. The company monitors internal gender quality indicators. Women make up 37 percent of Sodexo’s executive board and 54 percent of the board of directors, exceeding the legislative aimed quasi-parity of 40% of either gender on the board of directors introduced in 2011. ²⁷ Further, it has viable structures in place throughout the company to promote equality: A commitment to gender equality is one of the group’s strategies and performance factors. Sodexo aims to fill at least 40 percent of its senior management with women by 2025, even though the newly introduced law Loi Rixain of 2021, affecting corporates with >1,000 employees, stated a goal of 30% of women in managerial position and governing bodies by 2027. This goal is increased to 40% by 2030 and contains a grace period of two years. Companies that do not adhere this law can face financial penalties as high as 1% of the company’s total payroll. ²⁷
To ensure that all managers (male and female) understand the importance of this goal, 10 percent of the respective annual bonus is based on the degree to which this goal is achieved. Having collected data on gender, the company further found a positive relation between gender balance and business performance, confirming that a mix between 40 and 60 percent is necessary for optimal performance. ²⁸^,²⁹

Important KPIs to measure Gender Equality

To provide a quantitative measure of gender equality within a company, several sources propose relevant key performance indicators and data for companies to collect and analyse.²⁶^,³⁰^,³¹ These indicators can be built around five relevant metrics: pay, recruitment, retention, advancement and representation. Depending on the industry and area of a company, additional and more specific KPIs should be added.³¹

Pay: Measuring if men and women in the same positions earn the same. Ratio of the basic salary and remuneration of women to men for each employee category, by significant locations of operation (GRI)

Recruitment: Measuring if men and women have equal chances entering the company and finding potential biases. Ratio of men to women along the recruitment funnel (BCG) Share of men and women hired with a permanent contract (IDH) Share of men and women hired with a temporary contract (IDH)

Retention: Identifying possible barriers for men and women to stay in a company. Gender-specific attrition rate by employee category and location of operation (BCG) Percentage of maternity leave taken by men/women (BCG) Number of employees not returning after taking parental leave (IDH)Cumulative gender-specific number of absent days (excl. holidays, paid health or parental leaves taken) (IDH) Option for flexible work time (IDH)

Advancement: Measuring if women and men are advanced to leadership positions. Promotion rates and opportunities of advancement taken by men and women (BCG) Average hourly costs of training male and female employees (IDH)

Representation: Measuring if women and men are justly represented in all areas of a company. Percentage of female and male employees per employee category (GRI) Share of men and women in governance bodies (GRI)

Further metrics: Measuring possible harassment and discrimination at the workplace. Number of discrimination or violence incidents related to gender reported (IDH) Number of discrimination or violence incidents related to gender solved (IDH)

Table 1: Selection of KPIs to measure Gender Equality

The chapter Practical steps to promote GE in workplace illustrates how the metrics listed above can be used as an evaluation tool. Nevertheless, it is important to highlight the fact that the relevant indicators are limited as they can only consider and give information on what is actually measured. However, they provide an appropriate basis for analysing gender equality. Further, having data tabulated by sex does not guarantee an adequate analysis as biases in quantitative evaluations are likely to exist.²¹ Therefore, to gain a more in-depth understanding of GE in a company, a qualitative measurement approach should be considered. The OECD proposes to conduct a qualitative survey to support the quantitative findings. This should include questions on workers’ satisfaction, absenteeism (revealing the main reasons for absence), harassment, and gender interventions. In this way, the perceptions of the employees on gender parity in the company can be estimated.³²

3 Relationship between firms and gender equality

3.1 Influence of firms on gender equality

Through their policies, processes and actions of decision makers, firms create and assign workers to opportunities that offer different rewards. Thereby firms can create and uphold gender inequalities like differences in wages and careers.³³ Conversely, there are multiple channels via which firms can influence GE.

Implementation of Gender Diversity Policies and Management

Firms can promote GE by introducing gender diversity policies and management. The main types are gender quotas on boards, mentoring programmes, support of female professional networks, diversity trainings to change corporate culture, disclosure of wages for female and male employees, work flexibility and family friendliness policies.³⁴ While affirmative action policies can ensure that more women are hired, subsequent diversity management is necessary to enable females to advance to middle management or leadership positions.³⁵ Enhanced diversity management can reduce turnover rates of women as they obtain better career opportunities.³⁶ Performing regression analysis with data on OECD countries largest firms, Azmat and Boring (2020) find that having a formalized gender diversity policy in place and implementing it, significantly increases the percentage of women in leadership positions.³⁴

Gender Composition of Managerial Positions

Theoretical and empirical research increasingly finds that the gender composition of managerial positions, i.e., an increased presence of women in management, seems to lead to improved GE regarding the gender wage gap, lower-ranked female career advancement and occupational gender segregation.³³ Having more women in management, improves female’s ability to challenge males’ control over coveted positions. By being role models or mentors, practicing same sex favouritism and being more capable in determining women’s abilities (out-group homogeneity hypothesis) ³⁷, as well as considering own experiences, having more women in managerial positions can improve hiring, pay and promotion possibilities of lower-ranked females. These effects are further enhanced, as research has shown that women are more likely and willing to participate in a competition (for a certain position, e.g.) if they expect to have a chance to win (i.e., earn a certain position). ³⁸ Moreover, some scholars argue that women are generally more inclined towards GE promoting policies, reducing gender bias at the workplace.³³

Manager’s Attitudes and Beliefs on Gender Roles and Stereotypes

Another channel via which managers seem to influence organizational GE are their personal beliefs and attitudes on gender roles and stereotypes which influence their decisions on hiring, skills development, promotions, and the introduction of policies to reduce gender inequalities.³⁹ Exploiting that managers’ beliefs on gender roles are likely reflected in their political orientation, Carnahan & Greenwood (2018) find that US corporate law firms which have more liberal partners, who tend to be more inclined towards GE, hire more women and have more GE in promotion rates.³⁹

Tackling of Occupational Sexual Harassment

To make their contribution to GE, firms need to tackle sexual harassment of women at the workplace.³⁴ Recent research finds that women in leadership positions are more likely to experience sexual harassment.⁴⁰ Consequently, “(…) because sexual harassment can potentially discourage women from seeking promotion, women’s leadership talents are not realized at the same rate as men’s.”.⁴⁰

Transnational Business Initiatives

Initiated by international policy debate about GE leading to better business outcomes, international companies recently also engage in transnational initiatives to foster gender inequality and women’s empowerment.⁴¹^,⁴² Often, these initiatives are public-private partnerships, varying on their degree of public or private actors involved and their goals.⁴¹ An example for a private-led partnership is Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women Global Initiative, whereas the European Union’s Programme on Gender Balance in Decision-Making Positions and the UN Women and Global Compact’s Women Empowerment Principals (WEPs) are examples for public-led initiatives.⁴¹ In addition, some multinational firms introduce own philanthropy or corporate social responsibility programs to advance GE on a larger scale, like Nike’s Girl Effect Program which aims to improve health and education for girls in developing countries.⁴¹^,⁴² With these programs companies want “(…) to improve the quality of their supply chains, enhance their access to talent, and increase the productivity of their workforce.”.⁴²

Best-Practice Example: Coca-Cola’s STAR Programme

As part of Coca-Cola’s 5by20 initiative, since 2011 the Sari-Sari Store Training and Access to Resources Program (STAR) benefited more than 200,000 Filipino women working in small neighbourhood stores – Coca-Cola Philippines’ main sales channel.⁴³ STAR is particularly effective in terms of gender equality as it offers business skills training, microfinance, and peer mentoring via local grassroot women organisations which are highly accepted among the local community.⁴² In 2020, the program even won the Women Empowerment Principles award by UN Women in the category “Community and Industry Engagement”.⁴⁴

3.2 Influence of gender equality on firms

In recent years scholars, international organizations, consultancies, and businesses themselves increasingly state support for the “business case for gender equality”, meaning that a greater level of GE within a company results in better firm performance.³⁴ Empirical research on this relationship is however ambiguous. Some scholars find a positive association, while others find no or even a negative relationship.⁴⁵^,⁴⁶ Exploiting data on over a thousand firms in 35 countries and 24 industries, Zhang (2020) finds that in countries and industries where gender diversity is not an accepted social norm, firms’ performance does not benefit from more gender diversity.⁴⁶ Whereas in contexts where GE is perceived as an important social value, he finds a significant positive relationship between corporate gender diversity and firm performance. Specifically, improving GE can influence companies’ performance in multiple areas.⁴⁷

Financial Performance

Due to different experiences, knowledge, and values, increasing the number of women directors can bring in new perspectives and thus a broader understanding of markets and stakeholders, which may ultimately alter a boards decision-making quality and improve firm’s financial performance.⁴⁸ While empirical research focusing on a specific country comes to ambiguous results on the relationship,⁴⁵ recent meta-analyses of previous studies find a significant but only small⁴⁸ or no association⁴⁹ between female board representation and a company’s ability to make profits on investment and assets. Using data of German DAX firms, Joecks et al. (2013) find that only boards with a sufficiently large number of females (3 or more women) significantly increase a firm’s return on equity (ROE).⁴⁵

Recruitment of Staff and Customer Loyalty

By fostering GE, especially in the form of family-friendly human resource management, firms can improve their reputation as a family-friendly company offering equal opportunities to women and men. Consequently, firms not only improve their ability to recruit and retain employees but can also benefit from higher customer loyalty.⁴⁷ According to the ILO (2019), among companies which witnessed improved business outcomes due to GE initiatives, “(…) 56.8 reported increased ability to attract and retain talent, (…) and 36.5 per cent reported being better able to gauge consumer interest and demand.”⁵⁰

Productivity

The share of females among the workforce has been found to positively influence a firm’s manufacturing productivity.⁵¹^,⁵²^,⁵³ However, the effect of GE on firms’ productivity seems to be depending on the skills level of female workers and firm size.⁵² Thus, to realize such productivity benefits, scholars recommend firms to introduce women-specific training and skills programs.⁵²

Best Practice Example: P.A.C.E. by Gap Inc.

In 2007, US fashion retailer Gap Inc. launched its Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E.) program which until 2021 provided around 800,000 women and girls in the global garment industry with life skills and technical training to foster females personal and professional development.⁵⁴ A study by Adhvaryu et al. (2017), who conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the P.A.C.E. program in five large Indian garment export firms, showed that female workers who participated in the program were 20% more productive than females who did not. According to the scholars, the improvement in productivity seems to be related to the female workers enhanced soft skills (better communication and problem-solving ability), leading to improvements in technical skills.⁵⁵

Innovation Capacity

Several empirical studies find that gender diversity among a firm’s board of directors;⁵⁶ its owners and top management;⁵⁷ its employees⁵⁷^,⁵⁸ or within its R&D teams⁵⁹ positively influences a firm’s ability to innovate. Gender diversity within a company is argued to be an advantage for innovation as firms gain access to more diverse knowledge, networks, and perspectives, which improves the creation, problem solving and decisions on innovative ideas.⁵⁷ Specifically, gender diversity in product development and innovation is a chance to create products which fit to the needs of everybody, regardless of their gender. Otherwise, gender-biased product design can result in ignoring the needs of marginalized groups, designs that are unsuitable or excluding user groups of consumption, sustain gender stereotypes and enforce new social inequalities⁶⁰. Further-more, diverse teams and gender inclusive product design can be seen as opportuni-ties to act as a role model in the business world, improve the company’s image, gain new target groups, enter or create new market and gain more profit.

Sustainability Performance

GE also seems to positively influence firms’ sustainability performance. Empirical studies confirm a positive relationship between the number of women on boards and businesses’ environmental, social, and governmental (ESG) performance⁶¹^,⁶² or (environmental) corporate social responsibility ((E)CSR).⁶³^,⁶⁴ A higher number of females on the board can promote CSR activities as women directors are more likely to have outside business expertise. A wider range of views improves a boards ability to understand stakeholder needs and tackle CSR issues. In addition, the number of women in a firms board itself may already signal that the company acts responsibly about women and minorities.⁶³ Moreover, research hints at women being more concerned with environmental problems than men.⁶⁴

4 Processes, measures, and tools for gender equality management

GE is a fundamental human right and has been recognized in many different (inter-) national declarations and conventions.[mfn referencenumber=3]Acker, J. (2006). Inequality regimes. Gender & Society, 20(4), 441–464.[/mfn] The business case for GE as portrayed in chapter three is another reason to implement GE into corporate social responsibility management practices. The following chapter provides implementation guidelines.

4.1 Integrative approaches

Women’s Empowerment Principles

Achieving GE only becomes possible when a change throughout the entire corporation takes place. One popular holistic approach to GE in businesses are the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), an initiative established by UN Women and the UN Global Compact in 2010. The WEPs consist of seven principles (see Figure 1) which serve as a roadmap for businesses to reach GE and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace, and community. Companies joining the UN Global Compact commit to implementing the WEPs.⁶⁵

The first principle suggests that in a corporation, all corporate actions should “be returned to practice efforts at developing gender equality in the corporate contest. This includes training for male leaders, highlighting the relevance for gender equality for corporations”.⁶⁵ Principle two refers to equality within the workplace, including equal wages and equal opportunities for men and women. Ensuring health, safety, and well-being regardless of gender (principle three) should guarantee “an environment free of harassment and violence”.⁶⁵ The UN highlights the different biological necessities (e.g., breast-feeding, pregnancy) that must be considered. Furthermore, giving women spaces to be heard, e.g., female committees, is important to talk about sexual harassment and fears. Principle four considers educational opportunities as women do not have the same development opportunities as men. This is related to the double burden of many women from home-based obligations next to work. Suggested actions in this context are e.g., mentoring or creating educational options for women. Regarding the fifth WEP, “corporates have a considerable potential to promote gender equality through their relationships with suppliers”.⁶⁵ The sixth WEP touches upon initiatives beyond political measures to promote GE in communities. Corporate partnerships with private initiatives or NGOs supporting women are a common way to do so. The last principle highlights the importance of measuring and reporting progress.

Best Practice Example: Banco Santander

In 2019, Banco Santander, a global financial service company (ca. 200.000 employees) joined the WEPs. Santander formulated three commitments towards GE. To reach those, Santander developed a training for all senior leaders to improve inclusive behaviors in day-to-day activities and reduce unconscious bias (WEP 4). Women’s networks were established to contribute to a culture of diversity and inclusion. WEP 2 is followed e.g., through global standards in maternity leaves and facilitation of parenthood at work through easy re-entry for new parents or on-site childcare. To raise awareness and celebrate the achievements of women, International Women’s Day is celebrated each year. As a result, 55% of all staff, 22% of senior leadership and 37% of middle management were female in 2020. The equal pay gap was reduced from 3% to 2%.⁶⁷

Gender Equality Seal Certification

The Gender Equality Seal Certification Program by the UNDP is an initiative recognizing “private and public companies for meeting specific standards to promote gender equality and empower women”.⁶⁸ The goal of this initiative is to close GE gaps in the workplace globally. This objective is pursued through partnerships with national governments. Introduced in 2009 in Latin America, it is today available worldwide. When a company fulfills the requirements, it is awarded the Gender Equality Seal.

The ten steps to earn the certification are the following:

“Formulate the company’s written commitment to gender equality
Establish a gender equality committee
Train senior management and staff on gender equality
Undertake an internal organizational assessment of […] policies and practices
Develop a company-wide policy and plan of action for gender equality
Implement the gender equality plan of action
Conduct an external audit of the progress achieved
Achieve official government recognition and certification of the Gender Equality Seal
Once the Gender Equality Seal has been awarded, monitor ongoing progress and audit for quality assurance
Take actions to improve the program and maintain certification status”
The implementation of these steps depends on the national government the company is located in. If requested, UNDP also offers technical help to public as well as private companies when it comes to developing and implementing a GE management system.⁶⁹

4.2 Practical steps to promote gender equality in the workplace

A collection of the most relevant tools and processes towards GE will be portrayed in the following. These practical steps were collected from different corporations and institutions and are backed by research. Some of them might overlap with the holistic approaches above and not all steps will be applicable in every corporation.

Best practice example: Amfori

Amfori, a global non-profit business association with 61 employees, introduced a series of trainings for their staff in 2019. The first training included all employees, and the second training was for employees involved in the cross-function gender taskforce. The trainings were run by an external provider and covered diverse topics e.g., everyday GE issues, gender pay gaps, and gender-inclusive language in corporate documents.⁷⁰

1. Assess and understand the company’s current status
Using the measures and KPI mentioned in chapter two, assess the current situation of the company and identify challenges. A comparison to other corporations inside or outside of the business environment might be useful to better understand the company’s situation.⁶⁶ Surveys among female employees on the equality climate and general satisfaction at work can be used to detect problems.¹³
Furthermore, as an important step before hiring, the male-female worker ratio should be analyzed within the company. This allows the employer to get a good picture of their starting position and possibly optimize their hiring process accordingly. The fact that a balanced ratio of male and female employees is important and profitable for a company is also shown by the report of PWC called “Winning the talent race”. The report shows that there is a link between an equally gender-balanced workforce and higher financial returns in the logistics sector, as busi-nesses with more women outperform their competitors with less female workforce by about 16 % in return on sales.⁷¹^,⁷²

2. Formulate intentions and specific goals and communicate them
For company-wide changes and an understanding and backing of decisions by the personnel, it is important to clarify motivations. Setting goals and raising awareness on the topic will make the implementation of measures easier. Precisely formulated goals with time frames will also make future progress measurable.⁷³

3. Review your recruitment process
The first step is to change job descriptions to address a broader pool of applicants without any gender bias. This includes the use of all pronouns but also the description of the job and the needed requirements. Some words, like “dominant”, may attract men rather than women.⁷⁴ Furthermore, longer shortlists were observed to increase the ratio of women considered for a job.⁷⁵ Finding high-profile female employees might be challenging due to a smaller pool of women with board experience. To overcome this, one should consider hiring women without the presumably needed board experience but with skills or potential instead. This often results in a great variety of different perspectives at the table.⁷³ Recruiters should focus on the set qualifications, the relevant expertise, and personal attributes, and make sure that the hiring panel is gender diverse.⁷⁴ Skill-based assessments (e.g., through practical tasks) and standardized interviews with the same questions for every candidate are a good way to promote unbiased decisions.⁷⁵

4. Update your training
Detailed and informative training on gender (in)equality, prejudices, and awareness of discrimination should be conducted for all employees at best, but particularly for the management to guarantee a good working environment for everybody.⁷⁴
This also includes the training on how to treat women when it comes to negative circumstances like bad performance in the workplace. Superiors should learn how to apply equal management for both genders, not only when it comes to the assignment of tasks or promotions but also when it comes to poor work performances. Therefore, when a female employee performs poorly in the workplace, she should get the same treatment as her male colleague when he is in a similar situation. Shielding female employees from their mistakes by coddling them for example takes away from the need and purpose of gender equality and can be interpreted as reverse sexism. Because only if both genders are equally treated under any circumstances, true gender equality in the workplace can be achieved.⁷¹

5. Revise your pay practices and remove your gender pay gap
Assure that the same wages are paid for equivalent jobs. Publishing salary information demonstrates that gender pay equality is a priority for the company and discussing salaries among employees raises awareness on inequalities. Setting pay brackets for each job along with general requirements for the position can eliminate biases.⁷⁵ To keep accurate documentation and detect problems, every employee’s qualification, pay, position, education, work experience and other relevant professional data should be collected. Approaching this in a structured way delivers the evidence needed to reevaluate individual pay.⁷⁴

6. Promote work-life balance and maternity/parental leave options
For parents, raising children and following their career goals at the same time is often challenging. This applies particularly to women, as they are often responsible for household work and childcare. Workplace and working time flexibility can relieve stress of working parents. Working from home part- or full-time is a great opportunity to better balance job and family.⁷⁴ Another tackling point is reconsidering the corporate parental and maternity leave practices. The possibility of staying connected to the company during maternity or parental leave is important for an easy return. This could happen e.g., through a personal mentor keeping parents updated and parents keeping their work phones and laptops. Further approaches are working limited hours during maternity/parental leave if desired, (online) training during maternity/parental leave, and a return program before reentering the job.⁷⁶

7. Create an open-minded business culture
Managers should get to know their team members at a personal level and appreciate differences e.g., in gender and background. These differences resulting in more heterogenous team structures often contribute to more diverse perspectives and better outcomes. A welcoming environment for women favors this development and should take place at all corporate levels.⁷⁴ Assessing the managers’ performance in the field of equality should be done regularly and progress and problems should be communicated transparently. Furthermore, written documents and other materials should be reviewed for consistency with the firm’s equality standards. Discussion groups, intranet posts and workshops are a great way to increase participation towards GE.¹³
The overturn of written documents and the encouragement of engaging with each other regardless of gender in discussion groups or workshops will also help to eradicate stereotypes about women. Today, there are still many stereotypes about women in our society that make it difficult for female employees to be taken seriously in the workplace from the very beginning. Therefore, the employer is obligated to create an environment and narrative at work where these stereotypes are not repeated and have no place or application. Rather, only the eradication of stereotypes against women and furthermore the equal empowerment of male and female workers can lead to gender equality in the workplace.⁷¹^,⁷⁷

8. Provide mentorship and networking opportunities
Matching experienced mentors with (new) employees can help them navigate their careers. The advantages of a mentorship program open for everybody are among others that barriers can be overcome, and that people can learn from each other. Same-gender matches or matches according to similar situations (e.g., pairing a new mother with a mother in a leadership position) can be useful for learning how to deal with gender- or situation-specific issues.⁷⁴ Even more advantages are attributed to matching female mentors with males, as learning about differences in working and leadership styles is believed to “generate more empathy, more cooperation and just more willingness to see each other as people and to work for everybody’s success”.⁷⁵ Furthermore, women networks and corresponding events and activities are a good way to support the needs of women, facilitate their career advancement, and provide them with tools to keep up with male competition.⁵⁰

9. Apply the company’s code of conduct to partner companies
To extend the limits of influence, one should strengthen the GE requirements towards up- and downstream partner companies. A good way to enable contractors to fulfil the code of conduct is to help with implementation. Sharing GE strategies and know-how can be a valuable source for partners. Well-aimed partnerships can be an effective way to support women e.g., by choosing partner companies with proper GE practices or women-run businesses.⁷⁸

10. Monitor and evaluate results
Formulating corporate goals regarding GE asks for a regular evaluation of achievements. GE managers should set out how progress can be assessed and regularly do so. Measuring the company’s development might be similar to the status quo analysis in the beginning. Assessing managers’ performance on GE can help detect burdens and open ways of solving these. Public commitment to and transparent reporting of GE achievements to stakeholders positively contributes to achieving goals. Evaluation and monitoring capacities must continuously be reviewed and improved.¹³^,⁷⁹

Best Practice Example: Groupe PSA

Group PSA is a multinational French car manufacturer. Women Engaged for PSA, created in 2010, counts over 700 women today. The network provides a forum for women to gain insights in different areas e.g., research and development, automobile design and operations. The forum plays a key role in the company’s cultural change as it contributes to the PSA’s business interest and operations. 20 women’s perspective panels composed of network members are mandatory for vehicle projects. The network also collaborates with HR. The advantage for PSA is a better understanding of women’s perspectives, as a large share of their customers are female.⁶⁷

5 Drivers and barriers of firm action on gender equality

Corporations committed to GE face drivers and barriers during their process to establish GE. The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofond) published a case study in which they analyzed for different EU countries how GE in corporations can be promoted. In the case study it is distinguished between external and internal factors which are influencing gender action at the workplace.¹³ Depending on the region barriers can differ.⁸⁰

Figure 2: Drivers and barriers of firm action on GE. Own illustration based on references used in this chapter.

5.1 External factors

External factors influence strategic choices and actions of an organization by operating in the environment outside of the organization.¹³ The most important aspects are on the social, political, and economic level: the institutional framework, the industrial relations systems, the external labor market, and market conditions.

Social

One of the strongest influences on the persisting gender gaps are harmful social norms and stereotypes that discriminate women.⁷⁶ “Socialization of individuals, families and other institutions within such a structure is central to the creation and perpetuation of gender stereotypes”.⁸¹ It can be differentiated between descriptive and prescriptive gender stereotypes: “Descriptive gender stereotypes designate what women and men are like. Prescriptive gender stereotypes indicate what women and men should be like.”⁸²

Gender role models are linked with an unequal distribution of caregiving responsibilities between women and men. This is based on social gender role models that attribute women characteristics like caring, which is linked to the mother role, and account care work as female work.⁸³ Globally women spend two to ten times more time on caregiving responsibilities than men.⁸⁴ Combined with their wage labor activities women face a “double burden”⁸⁴

Very subtly, GE can be hindered by gender norms: for instance, evidence exists, that women tend to comply with a norm of modesty. This can result into women being less visible in promotion contexts, for example, such that despite equal qualification and suitability men are preferably chosen. Moreover sex-specific preferences and characteristics, e.g., regarding occupations, positions, working forms, or behavior, can result into and account for gender inequalities. For example, women could be underrepresented in management positions, because they are on average less competitive and thus less eager to work in such a competitive environment. Narrowly intertwined with these aspects is the fact, that promotion processes etc. are oftentimes historically shaped by and therefore designed for men and in accordance with male attributes. Awareness towards such psychological and social differences between genders and the redesign of processes, e.g., by altering job descriptions or avoiding wording indicating an especially competitive environment for instance, can help fostering GE. ⁸⁵^,⁸⁶^,⁸⁷^,⁸⁸

Political

The institutional framework refers to the external influences of institutions on the organization regarding the development and implementation of equality policies. Here the most relevant influences in the context of the EU for developing equality programs are: 1) the “pressure of European and national legislation against discrimination and in favor of action to promote equality” and 2) “the resources allocated, by the EU and by national public and private institutions, to programmes aimed at encouraging equal opportunities in companies”.¹³

Legal Framework

Equality action can either be addressed by specific equality legislation concerning for example parental leave or by wider labor legislation such as laws for flexible work arrangements.¹³

Equality Legislation

Regarding to Olgiati and Shapiro (2002) while equality legislation can be a key factor for some organizations to implement GE actions, for others it might be a barrier for initiating gender inequality.¹³ In the EU, “[G]ender equality issues are currently regulated by the EU Treaties, a number of EU Directives and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.”⁸⁹. European citizens can sue for their equality rights within this legal framework.

Moreover, for a lot of countries in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) region there is an equal pay legislation. Those countries have ratified the ILO Equal Remuneration Convention (C100) and additionally implemented legislation regarding equal pay for equal work.⁴⁷

A more specific regulation that affects GE in organizations are gender quotas. The EU agreed on gender balance on corporate boards that proposed 40% share of the underrepresented gender among non-executive and 33% among executive directors. This quota must be ensured in all member states and companies not adhering to this must apply transparent and gender-neutral criteria and prioritize the underrepresented gender in application processes. ⁹⁰

As an example, Germany introduced the Führungspositionengesetz (FüPoG II) on August 12th, 2021, that concretized a minimum of one man and woman in the supervisory board in private economy. In controlling stakes of the federal government at least 30% of the supervisory board must be women. In public administration parity is aimed in all directing positions.

At the European level, Norway is a pioneer, having introduced their gender quota of 40 percent for supervisory boards of state-owned and listed companies already in 2003.⁹¹ The Norwegian quota is an example for a “hard” quota which means that companies are sanctioned when they do not establish a board according to the law.⁹² Whereas Spain similarly introduced a ”soft” quota of 40 percent in 2007 but without negative consequences for the corporations if they do not meet the quota.⁹³ If a gender quota indeed increases the share of women on boards, can depend on whether it is a “soft” or a “hard” law quota.⁸⁹ Studies showed that a “hard” quota might be more effective in achieving GE on boards than a “soft” quota.⁹²^,⁹³ Yet, without a legislative quota at all, parity is not expected earlier than in two decades, while with a quota it can be achieved at the end of 2020s. ⁹⁰

Wider Employment Legislation

Wider employment legislation can influence women’s workplaces through a direct and indirect channel. A legal framework addressing maternity/paternity and flexibility can affect the nature of measures that organizations implement to address these issues enable organizations to implement measures regarding these aspects.¹³

One measure for parental leave is firstly the provision of an option for mothers to share their maternity leave with the fathers, if they want to return to work early. Secondly, there is non-transferable paid parental leave which only can be taken by the second parent. This was introduced by the Nordic countries in the 1990s and followed by Austria and Germany.⁴⁷ Despite the regulation there are still cases in law, such as in the German stock corporation law, which does not provide parental leave. In case of a pregnancy the mandate for the board must be resigned and cannot be paused.⁹⁴

The Parental Leave Directive (Council Directive 2010/18/EU) comprises shorter and more flexible working hours as well as flexibility of the place of work.⁹⁵ These flexible working arrangements are intended to facilitate work-life balance and support people with caregiving responsibilities to participate in the labor market.²²

National Programs Aimed at Promoting equality

These national programs are aimed at enhancing the capabilities of the female workforce, offering an exchange of experiences, and making companies visible that are committed to gender equality. An example for this is the Spanish Optima Program that helps organizations to institute equality measures. The German Total E-Quality Management Award marks up companies that implemented gender equality in their organizational policies.¹³

Economic

The development of workplace equality is affected by changes in the labor market and market conditions.¹³ The proportion of women who participate in the labor market increased in the last century around the world. Due to demographic development, workplaces that are left by retiring workers will be filled with immigrants and people who are underrepresented in the labor market. Therefore, equality policies within organizations might help to recruit suitable employees.¹³

The time women spend with caregiving work is negatively correlated with participation in the labor market.⁸⁴ “The unbalanced division of labour disadvantages women in employment. The lack of working-time flexibility and family-friendly arrangements in the workplace forces many women with care responsibilities to leave employment, work below their qualifications, switch to lower paid and possibly more precarious part-time positions in occupations where these are offered.”⁴⁷

Furthermore, labor market factors can be a barrier for firms to implement equality policies because there might be not enough qualified women for a certain field. For instance, there are differences in the choice of higher education program between gender which means that women are less likely to graduate in subjects like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Besides some women might prefer to not work in male-dominated sectors as described above.³⁴

Best Practice Example: Telstra

Telstra is an Australian telecommunications and technology company with around 30.000 employees. The company leads on gender parity in the ASX 20 (stock exchange) companies in Australia. Telstra decided to offer flexible working arrangements “all roles flex” to all employees in 2014 which considerably impacts GE. Flexibility can mean part-time work, different working-hours, or work-locations. Women are no longer leaving the labor force, also known as the leaky pipeline.⁷⁸

5.2 Internal factors

The internal factors describe the “resources and constraints” within an organization that have an impact on its gender equality strategy. The most important factors are company values and culture, human resource management and social partnership.¹³

Corporate Culture and Values

People-centered corporate values and cultures seem to be related with equality. A formal egalitarian vision and culture might benefit action on equality, even though it has to be complemented by a commitment of the organization to achieve equality goals.¹³ Inequality regimes exist in every organization, even though organizations that committed themselves to egalitarian values develop those regimes over time. Embedded in a social, political, historical, and cultural context, inequality regimes describe practices and processes that maintain inequalities within organizations.³

Two barriers for women careers that are linked to corporate values are: An “anytime” performance model where the work mode of always being available makes the integration of work and family life difficult. Women also often feel that their leadership styles for senior positions are not compatible with the prevailing model in the organization.⁹⁶

Equality action is a form of an organizational change process and is influenced both by conservative and innovative forces. Male values or stereotypes might endure and so “organizational islands” emerge where some are in favor of GE and others are against it.¹³

Human Resource Management

Personnel decisions such as selecting and hiring female applicants in organizations are influenced by gender stereotyping.⁸¹ Decisions are based on different biases.⁸⁰ The link of innovative human resource management and equality is a reason for sustaining equality in the long run.⁸⁹

Descriptive gender stereotypes ascribe agency as a male attribute and community as a female characteristic. Descriptive stereotypes about women do not necessarily have a negative consequence. Though they are relevant if they affect the expectations about women’s job performances.⁸² For example, there is an idea about people in manager positions to represent male characteristics.⁹⁷ Heilman & Parks-Stamm (2007) call this the “lack of fit between female stereotypic attributes and male gender-typed job requirements”⁷⁹ which leads to the assumption that women will not succeed in those positions attributed to male characteristics. The performance evaluation bias describes that men are often evaluated on their future potential, whereas women are rather evaluated on what they achieved until today.⁸⁰ Evaluative judgments and organizational decision-making are therefore sex-biased.⁸²

Women also get stereotyped because they can become mothers and therefore might not be as devoted to work as they should.⁹⁷ This is called the maternal bias and consequently those women are offered fewer leadership positions.⁸⁰ Frequent prescriptive stereotypes about women are that they should be kind, understanding and sympathetic. This is accompanied by assumptions about what women should not do e.g., agentic behavior as inappropriate for women. If women do not act according to these prescriptive stereotypes, it can be detrimental for their careers.⁸²

These stereotypes contribute to the phenomenon of the glass ceiling, or sticky floor, which describe the situation that women (and racial minorities) do not receive the same career opportunities as (white) men and often stay at lower levels of the organization. ⁹⁸ Globally, women only held around 32% of senior or middle management positions by 2021. ⁹⁹ In addition to beliefs about male and female characteristics, two prominent reasons for this are homophily and incumbency/inertia. Homophily means that people prefer other people that are similar to themselves, so existing leaders will hire or promote people similar to themselves. Incumbency/inertia refers to the fact that, regardless of the decision-maker, new leaders are likely to be similar to existing leaders. ¹⁰⁰ In addition, organizational dynamics like networking and mentoring, to which women do not get equal access, also play a role. ¹⁰¹ Consequently, men promote other men. In contrast, women in top positions are sometimes reluctant to support other women, a phenomenon called “queen bee syndrome”. ¹⁰²

When an organization is in a state of crisis, women surprisingly are appointed more often as leaders. ¹⁰³ Here, stereotypical beliefs about gender characteristics also play a role: The “female” community-focused trait is thought to be useful for crisis and change management. Additionally, in a crisis, an organization usually is more open for change, as the current way of doing things has not worked and bringing in new perspectives could turn things around. ¹⁰⁴ However, Ryan et al. (2016) have found that women are appointed especially when the organization needs a scapegoat and female leaders appointed in crises mostly do not receive support from the rest of the organization. This increases women’s likelihood to fail, for which they will be blamed (instead of the situation they started their leadership in) and are then replaced by men after a short tenure. ¹⁰¹^,¹⁰⁴ In the following, these women are also less likely to receive follow-up leadership opportunities. ¹⁰⁴ Nevertheless, as women only have limited options, they are forced to take on any leadership position and thus more willing than men to accept risky positions. ¹⁰⁴

Social Partnership

Collaboration between employees and employer are a foundation for framing the terms and conditions of employment. Therefore, also workplace equality action of an organization can be affected by social partnership.⁸⁹

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