Gender gap a business trap
DID you know that, on average, women need to work an additional 66 days to earn the same amount as men in a normal financial year?
This year, Equal Pay Day in Australia was marked on September 4.
The date symbolises how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year, and the exact day differs both by year and by country.
In Australia, the Business and Professional Women group has advocated nationally for more than 70 years for equal pay for work of equal value.
This year, BPW actively encouraged chief executive officers and company directors to start bridging the divide within their own organisations. More locally, and focusing on inequality through a leadership lens, the Committee for Geelong recently supported a project to investigate what can be done to increase participation and rates of career progression for women in Geelong’s business community.
The CfG Leaders for Geelong “Filling the Bay” project was inspired by the Committee for Perth’s trailblazing “Filling the Pool” initiative.
After conducting a two-year gender equity study to address the poor track record of women participating in Perth’s corporate sectors, the Committee for Perth released a report with a road map of 31 recommendations for government, the corporate sector and women to use.
Using this work as a template, Geelong’s Filling the Bay project reviewed how our community can work together to “fill the pool” with female leaders in decision-making and influential roles to address the current gender, participation and pay inequities in Geelong.
The Filling the Bay research was presented to representatives from Geelong’s business and community sector earlier this year, and is available on the CfG’s website.
In order to build on this research, an industry-led approach is being taken to further develop the initiative.
It is chaired by GMHBA’s Dr Sarah Leach and supported by CfG members and recent Leaders for Geelong graduates. The next phase of the Filling the Bay initiative will provide an even greater focus on increasing participation and rates of career progression for women in Geelong’s business community.
While it may appear that Geelong has women in chief executive roles across diverse sectors, the Filling the Bay report revealed the true extent of leadership positions in the Geelong region.
Using the latest ABS data, the Filling the Bay research showed that out of about 10,000 people employed in management roles in the Geelong region only 36 per cent of these were women. Of leadership roles, including CEOs and managing directors, only 17 per cent of those positions were held by women.
While on current evidence the Geelong business community may still have a way to go on equality, there are some fantastic examples of local organisations demonstrating leadership on this issue.
For example, Viva Energy Australia recently announced that the company was the first in Australia to introduce a comprehensive superannuation policy that it believed would make a tangible difference towards reducing the gap between the superannuation balances of men and women.
It is also introducing gender targets in its recruitment strategies. At its last operator intake, Viva reached its target of 50 per cent female — the first time in the company’s 60plus years history.
Perhaps Viva’s proactive approach to this issue may inspire other Geelong businesses to recognise the importance of pay equity within their own organisations.
Current national and international data provides compelling evidence of the positive economic case for gender equality. Achieving equity should therefore be seen as a strategic imperative, especially as the GDP forgone every year is estimated at 20 per cent, or an approximate annual loss of $300 billion for the Australian economy.
Given this, and as Geelong continues to transform into a clever and creative city, it is vital that organisations and businesses across Geelong review their gender equality policies and consider adopting specific targets. Rebecca Casson is the Committee for Geelong CEO. Follow the Committee for Geelong on Twitter @Comm4Geelong