Human progress is a curious thing. It took less than twoscore years to put a man on the moon, but it will have 170 years to put a woman in the board room in many places on our planet - such are the gender parity numbers.

According to the latest Global Gender Gap Report, this is the number of years before we close the global economic gender gap. Closing the global political gender gap is projected to take even longer.

It is not surprising why we have low gender parity at workplaces, globally

It is not surprising why nosotros take depression gender parity at workplaces, globally

In that location is no denying that the country of gender parity in the modernistic workplace is indeed alarming. Progress on some gender equality issues like bigotry and harassment is underway, but other areas similar career development bear witness little to no improvement. For instance, only 3% of Fortune 500 companies take a female CEO. The share of women in FTSE 100 boards of directors remains stagnant at 12%. A quarter of all FTSE 100 boards are, in fact, still comprised of 100% men. No matter where you are, at that place are immense hurdles that women around the world have to face when information technology comes to career advancement.

Gender parity: a affair of selection or pick?

Businesses remain stifled by entrenched leadership groups that claim these ostensible gender inequalities are related to issues of pick, not selection. According to them, the lack of female person talent in direction teams stems from the "different choices" that women tend to make throughout their careers. Only is it really a matter of dissimilar ambitions and career choices? Or are nosotros facing a much more systemic trouble that permeates the whole of society?

A recent survey by the Harvard Business Review and Bain & Visitor finds overwhelming evidence for the shocking country of gender parity in today'southward business world. A closer look at the data indicates that fifty-fifty though women are every bit competent and equally suited for leadership positions, there are serious structural factors that hinder their advocacy to the higher echelons of corporate hierarchies.

On the one mitt, there are severe perception gaps that brand the very discussion of gender parity in the workplace difficult. While over two-thirds of surveyed men indicated that, co-ordinate to their stance, women shared equal opportunities at their workplace, less than a 3rd of surveyed women said they felt the same. Furthermore, 80% of women agreed that gender parity needs to become a strategic business imperative in their organization. Past contrast, only 48% of men agreed with that statement. This stark dissimilarity is indicative of a concerning perception gap on the land of gender parity, permitting some men and women to live in their ain factual universe. Given these unlike perceptions of the problem at hand, information technology is not surprising that mostly male-led companies accept been slow to suit to the new reality.

On the other hand, at that place are cultural factors that impede progress towards greater parity. In many societies, there are deep-rooted gender stereotypes well-nigh the role of women equally "caregivers" and men as "breadwinners". The abovementioned HBR survey finds that, for lxxx% of women, these stereotypes are no longer plausible. Instead, these women assert that both men and women are as good caregivers at home. Along similar lines, 77% of men believed that their partner should be the one making the career cede for the sake of their family. Yet, only 53% of men said they were fix to make their own compromises for the sake of the household. Subconscious biases similar this persist and information technology is evident that gender roles should not be used as a pretext for curbing women's career evolution.

Achieving higher gender parity at piece of work

There seems to be no compelling reason to argue that gender parity is just a modest PR outcome that does not require extensive managerial attention. On the contrary, in order to finer address these challenges, management teams demand to act decisively and consider implementing the post-obit five steps towards greater gender parity at work:

1. Systematically assemble data to institute common ground for a discussion of gender inequality in the workplace. Gender parity metrics can, in fact, contribute to more than open dialogue and a conversation that is based on facts, rather than speculation.

2. Change company civilisation to eliminate gender stereotypes associated with work-life balance programmes. This entails promoting gender-neutral flexible career paths and actively encouraging all employees to take advantage of these opportunities.

3. Modify the performance review process to forestall structural disadvantages for people who seize work-life remainder opportunities. At the aforementioned fourth dimension, remind team leaders not to penalize employees for their needed level of boosted flexibility.

4. Keep searching for potential recruits until gender balanced is reached. Instead of implementing rigid quotas, continue to look for great candidates until at that place are an equal number of male and female candidates in the talent pool.

5. Finally and well-nigh chiefly, make gender parity a strategic objective for the organization. The summit-down commitment to addressing this upshot is imperative, because it contributes to a progressive company civilization that is based on accountability and equality.

170 years to close the economic gender gap is a timeframe we do not have to accept. We tin do amend than that. Martin Luther King Jr. one time said that "man progress is neither automatic nor inevitable; it requires the tireless exertions and passionate business concern of dedicated individuals". This is why we should exist optimistic. By actively promoting gender parity, facilitating flexible career growth and empowering more female leadership, we should be able to realistically achieve this goal in our lifetimes.

Vyacheslav Polonski is a Globe Economic Forum Global Shaper with the Oxford hub. His commodity is this month's winner in the Global Shaper essay contest, on the theme of gender parity.