Perspectives on diversity in Canada’s pharmaceutical industry
Despite mounting research that proves hiring more women into leadership roles isn’t just fair but also good for business, it’s still not reflected in many Canadian boardrooms.
A 2017 study on women in leadership roles in Canada, produced by the law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, found that although some steps are being taken to improve diversity figures, there’s a long way to go. According to the 2017 Diversity Disclosure Practices Report, only 15 per cent of executive officers in Canada are women (and, on average, women hold just 14.5 per cent of all corporate board seats).
Lisa Matar, president and general manager of the healthcare company Eli Lilly Canada, is among a growing number of Canadian executives trying to change those numbers by recruiting— and retaining—more female talent. And, because of the key role women play in healthcare, she says it’s even more important that they occupy senior roles in the pharmaceutical industry.
“We all know that the more women you have in your organization, the more diverse the thought and the better your business results,” Matar says. “It’s a business imperative. But in our business, gender representation is even more important because women are often the primary decision-makers in their families’ healthcare.”
Matar’s company has established global initiatives to better understand the career path of women from the point of hire, through training and promotion. It’s a strategy that has helped identify points of tension – times when women may feel pressured to abandon or change careers — and allowed managers to create action plans to address and ease those tensions.
“We need to dispel the myth that growing your career comes at a cost of your personal life,” says Matar, acknowledging women face unique challenges in the workforce. “How can we signal to young women who are early in their careers that we aren’t asking them to make drastic decisions, between their families and their jobs, for example? These can be balanced.”
This focused approach appears to be making a difference. A recent survey by Postmedia found that the company is maintaining a strong proportion of female talent at the top. 66 per cent of executives and senior directors at Eli Lilly Canada are women.
Those numbers are far more robust than the averages seen in the Osler data. The diversity report found that in the larger life sciences field, just 10 per cent of directors are women, and 17 per cent of executive officers are female.
Other pharmaceutical companies canvassed by Postmedia are also outperforming the industry averages. Novartis Canada reports that at the end of 2017, six out of 11 vice presidents and executive directors were women – 54.5 per cent. Additionally, nearly 60 per cent of the company’s directors are women. Other pharmaceutical companies, like AbbVie and Astellas, also report that women make up between 55 and 60 per cent of their leadership teams.
While Pamela Fralick notes these figures are encouraging, she stresses not all Canadian pharmaceutical companies are closing the gender gap. Fralick leads Innovative Medicines Canada, a trade organization representing more than 45 Canadian companies engaged in developing medicines and vaccines. Over the course of her career, she has taken on a variety of senior positions in Canada’s healthcare industry.
“There are a lot of women in health and they seem to dominate at the entry level, but as you move into senior positions, there aren’t that many,” Fralick says. “At the board table, we have four women out of 12. It is not a bad representation, but it’s not 52 per cent.”
Still, some prominent players in the pharmaceutical industry are standing out and attracting high numbers of women at the highest levels. This success can be attributed, at least in part, to a dedicated focus on retaining female talent, and a move to redefine their perspective on leadership. Matar says Lilly has moved away from the typically dominant “male” archetype and is encouraging women and all employees to bring their true selves to work.
“We know women have previously succeeded by mimicking those dominant tendencies,” Matar explains. “Women don’t need to be aggressive to fit in and be effective leaders. The more female leaders model authentic leadership, the more we can encourage professional success and personal investment in the lives of our next generation of leaders.”