Although the incidents happened in the academia world a pond over in the US, it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Both cases resonated so deeply with me because sadly, the narratives are not isolated incidents but are more common than expected.

I am a corporate girlie (among many other accomplishments) who is looking to pursue executive leadership in the corporate world, but a running theme that I continually discuss with my therapist is, “at what cost?”. So, I continue to progress in my career journey with trepidation.

WGEA reported that in Australia, women constitute 42 per cent of all employees, yet make up just a quarter of executives and only 10 per cent of CEOs for large, for-profit companies. For my case, I will need to add the intersectionality of being a migrant and being a Black woman which further widens the gap.

Not only do I have to navigate through a glass ceiling, but when I am in executive leadership, KPMG’s report She’s Price(d)less quantified the Australian gender pay gap to be worth ~$1bn, with the gap widening from 6 per cent among the lowest earning workers to 18 per cent among the executives.

In Australia, we have seen a fair share of women in executive leadership face the guillotine; from the misogyny faced by Julia Gillard to Christine Holgate’s public execution, as well as the most recent target Kelly Bayer Rosmarin. Is that what comes with the territory?! Should it though?! There are many other cases but so far the narrative around executive leadership is not sounding appealing to me AT ALL!

I hold onto hope that possibly Macquarie Group’s CEO Shemara Wikramanayake may have a positive story but I fear finding out more about her leadership experience as it may taint my perspective.

There have been countless DEI initiatives that have been implemented across the board, some successfully, others not so much. However, the fundamental flaw I see is the attempt to retrofit into an industrial system never designed with women in mind. There needs to be a radical rethink of how we look at the way we work and job design. Factors such as the impact of the burden of care, equitable access to opportunities and equitable compensation of labour all need to be considered to fashion an inclusive workplace that supports women.

The challenge is, not many want to invest in dismantling the system, especially when one benefits from it, so you get a lot of resistance to changing the status quo. Reality is the status quo is not working for half of the population and that is a costly problem for the economy. 

We have recent experience of pivoting quickly and on a large scale with our COVID experience, so don’t tell me it’s impossible. Radical change will also need to involve changes in societal attitudes towards women and the contribution women make to the functioning of society. Are we faring any better in that realm? With violence against women still a prevalent problem in Australian society, we still have a fair way to go in turning around sentiments. The discourse needs to be ongoing because the health of a functioning economy is subject to the status of the well-being and welfare of its participants.

As I contemplate my next career move, I am continuously seeking out positive representation and narratives that will fuel my hopes to enter executive leadership.

I have hope for the future and we are progressing as a society albeit at a slower rate than desired. However, I am embarking on the journey with my eyes wide open and prioritising my mental health with every step because what I am not going to do is sacrifice my well-being for the sake of a title.

So if you know of stories of women in executive leadership who are thriving, please share. Help a girl out!

The post I am pursuing a career in executive leadership but I fear the ‘glass cliff’ appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The mandate will see companies reach 30 per cent women as “senior managers and members of management bodies” by 2027, and 40 per cent by 2030. The bill also requires large and medium sized companies to publish annual data on gender gaps in their ranks.

Before it becomes law, the “Rixain-Castaner” bill needs to pass through the French senate before the end of President Emanuel Macron’s term. As well as addressing the gender gap in executive leadership, the bill also addresses other issues that affect women more broadly. This includes ensuring social payments land in women’s bank accounts (not their husbands), prioritising access to day care services for single parents, and a focus on supporting women entrepreneurs.

Elisabeth Moreno, France’s Minister for Gender Equality told Forbes that her dream is “parity everywhere”.

“It’s like the digital revolution, which has become totally transversal. From health care and cyber-security to economics and artificial intelligence, digital is everywhere,” she said. “The same is true for women. Otherwise, these systems remain biased and imbalanced.”

Before entering politics, Moreno spent three decades in the tech sector and has said that the introduction of quotas will help speed up the process of gender equality in the private sector.

“I’ve spent 30 years in the private sector. There are a lot of people who talk, talk, talk about more gender balance. But there is a lot more talk than there is action,” she said.

#EgaliteEco | « Je suis très heureuse d’être ici devant vous pour prendre la parole sur une proposition de loi qui, j’en ai l’intime conviction, rentrera au Panthéon de notre histoire collective. »@RixainMP | @CCastaner pic.twitter.com/hgqJLEiWon

— Élisabeth Moreno (@1ElisaMoreno) May 12, 2021

The “Rixain-Castaner” bill passed through the National Assembly ten years after France’s adoption of the Copé-Zimmermann law in 2011, which imposed a 40 percent minimum gender requirement for companies’ boards. This law has led to a marked increase in the number of women on boards. In 2019, 45 per cent of director seats at the country’s CAC40 Boards were filled by women, up from 10 per cent in 2009.

While this improvement has been seen on boards in France, the number of women in executive leadership has fallen well behind, with the new bill designed to help create a shift.

The summary of the bill states: “It is necessary to take a second step by actively promoting the presence of women in positions of responsibility.”

“The action on the glass ceiling makes it possible to intervene at all levels of the chain of responsibilities of the company by accelerating the careers of all women.”

The move from France follows legislation in Germany, passed in November 2020, that requires publicly-traded companies to have at least one woman in their executive leadership.

The post French parliament unanimously votes in favour of gender quotas for executive leadership appeared first on Women's Agenda.