Employee Gender Diversity Learn how to correctly analyse this topic.

Sarah Simon

14 min Read Time | September 14th 2022

Key takeaways

1

Gender equality can be measured through representation and (dis)empowerment in the workplace.

2

Empowerment signifies allowing people who are outside the decision-making process into it. Degradation is the opposite of empowerment.

3

Ensure that your analysis is not anecdotal by highlighting the broader issue at hand and describing and quantifying the social impact. Provide enough quantitative information to determine the impact value and severity.

Dainis graveris lpy HSTHO7 LM unsplash

What is it?

Gender equality, which can also be named sexual equality, "is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing different behaviors, aspirations and needs equally, regardless of gender."

Gender neutrality and equity are practices and ways of thinking that aid in achieving the goal of gender equality. Gender parity is used to measure gender balance, such as in the workplace. Being more than equal representation, gender equality is firmly interconnected with rights.

Empowerment can be defined in different ways; however, when talking about women's empowerment, it means accepting and allowing women who are on the outside of the decision-making process into it. Empowerment is the process that creates power in individuals over their own lives, society, and their communities. It includes raising the status of people through education, raising awareness, literacy, and training. It is all about equipping and allowing people to make life-determining decisions.

The opposite of empowerment is degradation, “the act of lowering something or someone to a less respected state.”


Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_empowerment#:~:text=Empowerment%20includes%20the%20action%20of,the%20different%20problems%20in%20society

E WEB Goal 05

SDg Choice

✅ SDG 5

✅ Impact Category: Processes

✅ ILG: Well-being

Data Points & Units

Values we are looking for are:

  • Total number of employees

  • % of women in the total workforce

  • % of women in leadership (preferably, if available, distinguished between management, the executive level, and on the board)

  • A comparison with the industry average/country threshold, depending on the information available

  • Gender pay gap

  • In your analysis, you should emphasise the overall impact determined by using various metrics (i.e., how close the company is to 40-60% representation of either gender, female (over) representation in lower-to-upper pay quartiles, etc.).

  • Gender turnover rate

  • % of women among newly hired employees

  • Any initiatives to increase gender diversity, along with tangible outcomes, if available

  • Define whether there is a glass ceiling (the decrease in the % of women moving towards higher decision-making roles) or not

  • Reviews from Glassdoor, Comparably, etc. on workplace experiences (from men vs. women)

  • Career development training for women versus men, and for how many hours

  • Any other data related to gender diversity that showcases whether women are empowered in the workplace or not


Some definitions:

  • % of women in upper management: Extract the % of women at any leadership level (other than BOD/directors for which we have another designated column) in this order of preference (based on hierarchy):

Executive level, senior management, upper management, VP, management, leadership

  • Gender pay gap:

-> When both mean and median pay gaps are given, please report the “mean”

-> If the pay gap is in favor of women, it should be reported with a negative sign. Example: X company’s women earn 108% of their male counterparts -> gender pay gap should be extracted as -8

  • Disclosed: When the data is disclosed and we do not use any assumptions/proxies to estimate it

  • Estimated: When we have estimated the figure

  • Complete: When the data represents 100% of the company’s operations

  • Partial: When the data is given for only a portion of its operations (not 100%) or for some countries where it operates

Impact assessment

Representation is important because it empowers those who have been marginalized historically. For instance, if women are overrepresented in lower-paying jobs and have little to no presence in leadership positions, this shows gender inequality.

Using the Logical Model, try to analyse the impact of the company's practices and initiatives to achieve true gender equality. What has the company done to empower or degrade women? Where and since when? Try to measure their practices and initiatives' effectiveness in life: is it improving their financial situation, health, etc.?

Caution

An absolute impact assessment must be made rather than conducting relative impact assessments (representation as a percentage or only compared to the industry). Although industry and/or competitor comparisons are valuable to include, the main focus should be on how the company empowers or degrades women in absolute terms.

In your analysis, you should emphasise the overall impact determined by using various metrics (i.e., how close the company is to 40-60% representation of either gender, female (over)representation in lower-to-upper pay quartiles, etc.).

Introduction

The introduction should examine the industry and provide industry statistics:

  • Explain how underrepresentation negatively impacts women's standing in society and why it is an issue that women are underrepresented in the workplace.
    • Note: Do not include any information about how women's representation affects business. This is a small but important distinction.
  • Background information and statistics on gender diversity/inequality in that particular society and/or industry.
  • How many women work in management and at the executive and board levels on average in this industry?
  • If the gender pay gap data is available for the subject company, it is good to include the gender pay gap in the industry (or country, if not available).

Core Analysis

You must include:

  • The total number of people working at the specific company in question and the % of women for the most recent year reported on.
  • The % of women in leadership (preferably, if available, distinguished between management, the executive level, and on the board).
    • If not reported on, you cannot make these assumptions based on visual outlook (from pictures on the company's website).
  • A comparison with gender diversity in society/country threshold/industry average/competitor depends on the available information.
  • Define whether there is a glass ceiling effect or not.


For your information: since 2017, any organisation with 250 or more employees must publish and report specific figures about the gender pay gap in the UK. You can look up any company here.


Include the following points to the best of your abilities:

  • The gender pay gap* (if any).
  • Initiatives that the company has started to increase gender diversity at the company along with their tangible outcomes (if available).
  • Gender turnover rate.
  • Parental support (and whether this differs for men vs. women).
  • Reviews from Glassdoor, Comparably, etc. on workplace experiences (from men vs. women).
  • New hires (women vs. men) for leadership roles or in male-dominated departments.
  • Career development training for women versus men, and how many hours
    - Other initiatives include supporting younger female generations who want to pursue careers in STEM, mentor matching programs to encourage women to ensure their voices are heard, building their networks, etc.
  • Have the initiatives reduced turnover rates?

*Gender Pay Gap:
When the gender pay gap data is given for different levels of hierarchy separately (and not as a single figure for all the employees), we have decided to go with the median figure.

Steps to find the median:

- First, arrange the figures in ascending order
- If the length of the set is an odd number -> take the middle value as the median.
For example, the gender pay gaps for different levels are 5%, -1%, and 8%, the median = 5%.
- If the length of the set is an even number -> take the average of the two middle values.
For example, the pay gaps for different levels are: 10%, 5%, -2%, and 7%, the median = (5+7)/2 = 6%

In this case, the data points are Partial. However, in the analysis, please disclose all the pay gaps to have a complete picture.


Note (!):

  • External sources (such as Zippia) can be used only if the discrepancy between the number of employees mentioned in the external source and reported by the company itself is below 20% for the most recent data.
  • Always use company reports over external sources.

Comparing the results to the industry averages will help show how the company ranks within its industry.

Do not assess whether they have increased or decreased the share of women by a small margin or if they did or did not meet the goals they have set themselves, as it is trivial.

Conclusion

The conclusion should recap the main point without adding new elements.

Decide how well the company is empowering or degrading women in the workforce. No new information is needed here; tie your conclusion back into the introduction.

After considering the broader issue and the company's actions, what is the company's net impact on the issue at hand? Is it positive or negative? Is the impact significant when compared to the data illustrating the broader issue?

Is the company close to achieving a true gender balance, regardless of the industry norms?

Sidenote

When coming across company reports that include aggregated (or consolidated) and non-aggregated data, you can still treat this topic. Please keep in mind that when the gender breakdown is only available for the non-aggregated number of employees, it would be important also to provide the aggregated number of employees to allow the reader to make a more informed judgment when it comes time to rate both the value and severity of the company's impact.

The difference between aggregated and non-aggregated data is that the latter only includes financial/other information on the parent company. In contrast, aggregated data includes data from both the parent company and its subsidiaries.

Sources you can use:

  • For gender pay gap data: Since 2017, any organisation with 250 or more employees must publish and report specific figures about the gender pay gap in the UK. You can look up any company here.

  • Zippia

  • Comparably

  • Glassdoor

Refresh

1. Check if the assigned analysis has more recent data (we require the latest data available)

NO: do not refresh the analysis and please report it

YES: Move to step 2

2. Update the analysis following our Important Metrics & Standards 

3. Check if the initiatives and targets mentioned are up to date

NO: fix them

YES: move to step 4

4. Check if there are any comparisons with competitors or benchmarks in terms of people

YES: remove them

NO: move to step 5

5. Check the intro: Is it up to standard? Are sources working? Is data current and relevant?

YES: do not refresh the introduction

NO: move to step 6

6. Fix the Introduction

7. Fix the Headline

8. Fix the Conclusion, if needed

9. Update the data points as per the available data

Related
Articles

Based on the article you've just read, here are some more we think you'd be interested in.

15 Min read

Employee Inclusion

Learn how to correctly analyse this topic.

11 Min read

Promote or Hinder Gender Equality and/or Inclusion from Products and/or Services

5 Min read

Golden Rule #4: Go beyond Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Some insightful tips and examples to help you move away from assessing CSR.

5 Min read

Golden Rule #1: Find the right level of granularity

How to find the right scope to cover a particular topic.

World Green Background Sustainability small

Let’s take action together

With the right investment companies having a positive impact on the planet are able to flourish. Our community forms part of that mission by measuring their impact.

Join Us