As Women’s History Month and the activities for International Women’s Day draw to a close, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I’m happy to see female achievements celebrated, on the other hand, I have feelings of frustration and déjà vu. 

While it’s great to have sessions and panels that leave people feeling inspired or empowered, sometimes it feels that the conversation hasn’t moved on. While meant with good intent, the message that women need to ‘put their hand up’ for challenging projects, is naïve. It ignores the embedded sexism whereby, women are often not given the same opportunities to get on career defining projects, or forgiven mistakes if something goes wrong, in the same way as their male colleagues. Furthermore, the lack of discussion about intersectionality is a missed opportunity for equity. 

Ultimately, the pace of change with women’s progress in the workplace is glacial. The World Economic Forum estimates that it will take 132 years to reach global gender parity. That’s the year 2152 before women catch up with men. Political empowerment and economic opportunities are key barriers to women. Examples of everyday sexism are all around us, for example only 2% of VC funding in the US goes to women. Olga Franczak PhD, Gender Equality Expert, recently shared on LinkedIn how her blood pressure went through the roof listening to the lived experiences of women in the UK at a IWD event at ISE Partners, one woman realised she was massively underpaid in comparison to the men in her team. When she brought it up, she heard “But you will get married soon and quit, so you do not need that money”. Franczak points out that “Gender equality is neither inevitable nor irreversible”.

As businesses, we have it within our power to push the boundaries and enable women to overcome these barriers. The World Economic Forum has clear practical steps that organisations can take. Three key elements are supporting wider talent pools, mentorship and role modelling. 

Women need to ‘see it to believe it’, to know that once they are in a position, they will be supported to reach their potential. To that end, I am happy that there are increasing numbers of fantastic female role models in leadership positions, and we have some phenomenal female leaders in Wavemaker, and the wider WPP network.

Becoming a leader depends on acting like a leader, but more it depends on being seen by others as a leader. And for too long leadership has been equated with masculinity; ‘think manager, think male’. Indeed, famously in 2004, Malcolm Gladwell reported that 68% of US male CEOs were over six feet tall compared to 15% of the population – those extra few inches of femur giving that extra masculinity va va voom! However, there are some green shoots of optimism and positive change. A recent meta-analysis, by Alice Eagly and colleagues found the women are increasingly reporting more self-belief that they can become successful leaders, complemented by increased perceptions of competence for women, while the leadership stereotype is lessening in masculinity. Women are increasingly demonstrating the self-belief to ‘act’ like a leader, as well as being seen by others as leaders. 

To make these green shoots a verdant landscape, organisations need to continue to evolve and do their bit to shorten those 132 years to reach gender parity. As well as supporting wider talent pools, mentoring and celebrating female role models, there is an opportunity for men to step up and be active allies. In Three Simple Ways to Be a Better Male Ally, Aaron Limonthas, wrote a starter list of things men can do to be more active allies to women. A simple one that any man could adopt today is “do less to have more impact”. When you have an opportunity to present to the company, speak on a panel, lead a project, or drive a presentation for any audience, pause and ask yourself: “Am I the right person for this opportunity?” By simply recommending a woman to replace you in these moments, you’re reversing centuries of systemic erasure of women’s impact on society. Ultimately women aren’t looking for chivalry, they are looking for equality, we want allies, not knights.