Breaking Barriers: Paving the Way for Women in Leadership Roles

Nowadays, more and more women are reaching the top of the leadership. This achievement,
however, is still considered a difficult step for many women as they are still underrepresented
and face a plethora of stereotypes. We need to keep in mind that when a business creates
systems that allow individuals to evolve and debunks prejudices, it is more likely to flourish.
After research, it was observed that real change and profits in a business come when
organizations create systems for integrating and maintaining the necessary behaviors. In
addition to the measures to be taken by businesses, an important step is challenging
entrenched biases and communicating with women to learn what they really need to thrive as
leaders.
In 2019, employees thought that the integration of women into leadership positions would be
achieved in the next 54 years. They are now revising and believe that this change will be
possible in 10 years. On the contrary, the facts show us a significant reduction in the number of
women in the middle administrative ranks. Unconscious biases continue to permeate the
workplace, and only 41% of men believe that women with children can stay focused on their
goal.
Addressing these important issues requires immediate and coordinated actions.
Gender equality is not a women’s issue but it’s an organizational one. Organizations must
quantify the economic benefits of correcting gender imbalances and adjust their strategy.
A survey conducted in 2019 showed that women are significantly underrepresented in
leadership positions. The pandemic, however, helped many women reconsider their careers and
practices integrated by many organizations significantly helped all employees, regardless of
gender.
In 2020, a large percentage of women quit their jobs were observed, and the fear of acquiring
those who have lost that time was on the peak.
Since 2021, more and more businesses have integrated initiatives specifically geared towards
promoting women. Today, 61% of organizations have established formal networking groups for
women. 78% offer career development planning aimed at women and 65% of organizations
require diversity training for managers including gender issues.
These programs are essential for data revision and mindsets. For the first time, the majority of
male employees do not see gender as an obstacle to their integration into the higher tier of their
organizations. In 2023, 54% thought a woman had the same chance of becoming a chief
executive as a man and 70% men reported that the role of CIO is equally available to women.
Since 2023 there have been more women in leadership, but this does not mean that efforts at
equality must be stopped. Promotion to senior positions remains stagnant and is something that
should concern us, as, at this rate equality will come in 3 decades rather than 10 years that
many respondents hope. The path to evolution is still difficult for women despite the actions that
organizations take.
Motherhood is something that contributes to the difficulty of women’s development. Only 40% of
men believe that a woman with a child can balance work and family. Unfortunately due to this, the management of a business chooses a different candidate to receive a promotion. So, we
understand that regressive opinions remain ingrained.
As we mentioned above, gender equality is considered a booster of performance and profits.
The time has come for organizations to take this more seriously and to integrate actions based
to gender equality and empowerment of women.
InfoQuest Technologies is such an organization. Since 2023, we have signed the United Nations
Principles of Women Empowerment and have incorporated various actions, events and
workshops that contribute to the strengthening of skills and culture of inclusiveness and equality.