Catalyst Blog

In the early 1980s, some companies in Latin America forced women to sign a resignation letter when they started work. The letter was held in a file until the day they got married. And when they tied the knot—they got the boot!

A lot has changed for working women in Latin America over recent decades, but gender gaps still run deep. Today’s C This explores the current challenges—and solutions—for women in Latin America and beyond.

Persistent Gaps

A report issued last week by the US Government Accountability Office found that while a higher proportion of American women than men finish high school and complete bachelor degrees, women represent a higher percentage of low-wage workers. Although disheartening, the report did find a modest closure of the pay gap. Adjusting for age, race, education, number of children and part-time status, the GAO found that women now earn 86 cents for every dollar earned by men—a five-cent improvement from 2000.

READ: “Gender Gap on Wages Is Slow to Close,” The New York Times, 11/3/11

Women Rule Markets

Pepsico’s CEO, Indra Nooyi, spoke recently about the power of women in the global economy. “Across the globe, women are the biggest emerging market in the history of the planet – more than twice the size of India and China combined,” she said at Ad Asia 2011, a media and marketing conference. Recent studies show that women control two-thirds of the global consumption expenditure of $18 trillion. How best to access these markets? By having diverse leadership that reflects the marketplace. “Attracting and developing the right talent is now perhaps the most important leadership task,” she said.

READ: “Women the biggest emerging market, not Ch-India: Nooyi,” First Post, 11/4/11

Latin Gaps

Studies reveal that Latin American companies have fewer women in senior positions than any other region in the world. “From a societal and cultural perspective in Latin America, it’s still very difficult for a woman to have professional success,” said Softtek President and CEO Blanca Treviño, one of the region’s few women CEOs. “You’re still expected to be much more the mother at home than the executive.”

READ: “Latin America: Female Boardroom Blues,” Latin Business Chronicle, 11/7/11

STEM Sells

American universities have pioneered novel ways to attract young women to traditionally male-dominated science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Officials at Texas A & M, for example, reach out to sixth-grade girls with programs like “Expanding Your Horizons,” a one-day on-campus immersion program featuring hands-on science experiments. “The real issue is women are falling out of STEM fields all along the pipeline, starting in middle school and high school,” said Stuart Schmill, dean of admissions at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, another school that engages in outreach to young girls. “To increase gender balance, it’s all a matter of getting the right story out about science and engineering to young women, that it’s not about sitting at a desk doing math all day.”

READ: “Closing the Girl Gap in Science,” The New York Times, 11/4/11

Gay Marriage in the Mainstream

Public support for gay marriage hit a record high among Americans according to a new poll. Today, 45% support gay marriage while 46% are opposed. This reflects a dramatic shift since 1996, when only 27% supported and 65% opposed. Support is now highest in the Northeast (59%), followed by the West (56%), Midwest (40%) and the South (34%).

READ: “Public Support for Gay marriage Continues to Edge Upward,” Pew Research Center, 11/3/11

Women represent 40% of the world’s labor force yet hold 1% of the world’s wealth—does this seem fair to you? The latest World Bank report on gender equality and development paints a dark picture of global inequities across health, wealth and education. Find out the latest World Bank statistics, plus the demise of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and the pervasive “think-leader-think-male” mentality, in today’s C This.

Leaks in the Indian Pipeline

A recent study of 21 large multinational companies across Asia found that India has the largest percentage of women dropping out of the workforce—with 50% attrition rates among women moving from junior to middle level. Some experts blame India’s high rate of so-called “daughterly guilt”—societal pressure to take care of elderly parents or in-laws.

READ: “Why Do Indian Women Drop Out of the Workforce?” by Rupa Subramanya Dehejia, The Wall Street Journal, 9/12/11

Where Women Rule

Using five metrics—Justice, Health, Education, Economics and Politics—Newsweek determined the best and worst places to be a woman. Nordic countries top the list while many Middle Eastern and African states hang at the bottom. Surprises include Canada, which ranks third best overall but 26th in Politics, behind countries like Burundi, Brunei and Cuba.

READ: “Global Women’s Progress Report,” by Jesse Ellison, Newsweek/The Daily Beast, 9/18/11

Where We’re At

The World Bank’s latest survey of gender inequality around the world contains an array of troubling statistics, as well as a few bright spots. Women account for more than half of university students worldwide, yet still lag men in health and wealth. “On the one hand, the enrollment of girls and young women in schools and universities and the participation of women in the labor force have increased in most of the developing world. And in many countries, such as Bangladesh and Colombia, at a pace much more rapid than was the case in the U.S during the 19th century,” said World Bank’s Sudhir Shetty in a press release. “On the other hand, gender disparities remain stubbornly large in most countries if earnings gaps, excess deaths of girls and women, and the representation of women in leadership positions in government and business are the focus.”

READ: “New Facts on the Gender Gap from the World Bank,” by Sudeep Reddy, The Wall Street Journal, 9/18/11

Do Tell

On Tuesday at 12:01 AM, the decades-old military provision mandating that LGBT soldiers “don’t ask, don’t tell” was officially rescinded. “Our nation will finally close the door on a fundamental unfairness for gays and lesbians, and indeed affirm equality for all Americans,” said House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, an advocate for the policy change.

READ: “U.S. Army Says Business as Usual as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Ends,” by Robert Burns, Associated Press, 9/20/11

Think Leader Think Male?

Stereotypes around leadership attributes are alive and well in the UK. A recent Oxford Brookes University study of middle-to-senior managers found that staff rated women higher than men, but bosses rated men higher than women! “A major problem for women is that they simply don’t look like the notion of a leader, because leaders look like men,” said Beverly Alimo-Metcalfe, chief executive of the Real World Group, a corporate coaching and research firm.

READ: “Why Staff Rate Female Leaders Highly but Male Bosses Score Them Lower than Men,” by Beverly Alimo-Metcalfe, The Guardian, 9/14/11

Double Up

It does make a difference if a woman is in charge. A new report by Corporate Women Directors International found that companies with a woman CEO have twice as many women in management and double the number of women board members as companies with a man CEO. These findings compliment previous Catalyst research showing a positive correlation between the percentage of women board directors in the past and the percentage of women corporate officers in the future.

READ: “Female CEOs Put More Women in Boardrooms,” The Daily Beast, 9/13/11

Working moms earn a lot more than just a salary. According to a new study, children of working mothers have fewer behavioral problems and are less likely to be obese. Check out more myth-busting findings about working moms and dads—plus the latest stats and solutions around gender leadership gaps—in today’s C This.

Getting Hitched

On Sunday, July 24, 2011, New York became the sixth state to offer legal same-sex marriage. Don’t miss portraits of 20 couples who said “I do,” some interesting changes in wedding etiquette to consider and learn how travel providers are competing to draw gay honeymooners.

READ: “After Long Wait, Same-Sex Couples Marry in New York,” by Michael Barbaro, The New York Times, 7/24/11

Working It

A University College London study found no evidence that working mothers harm their children’s social or emotional development. In fact, the study revealed that the best arrangement for a child’s well-being was where both parents lived at home and worked.

READ: “Working Mothers ‘Do No Harm to Children’s Behaviour,’” BBC, 7/22/11

Fixing the Pipeline

In February 2011, Lord Davies of Abersoch called on FTSE 100 companies to set a target of at least 25% female board member representation by 2015. While generally lauded as a step in the right direction, some critics argued that Davies failed to address career challenges of mid-career women. “A focus on corporate culture should look at how ‘work’ can be done differently at all levels to strengthen the pipeline to the top and how to get women into the executive roles which feed into the board position world,” said Charlotte Sweeney, Head of D&I, EMEA, at Nomura.

READ: “The Davies Report: What Does It Mean for UK Women?” by Cleo Thompson, The Glass Hammer, 8/3/11

Few Asians at Top

Despite comprising roughly 5% of the U.S. population, less than 2% of Fortune 500 executive positions are held by Asian-Americans. What’s worse, roughly one-quarter of Asians surveyed said they face workplace discrimination.

READ: “Study Finds Asians Occupying Few Corner Offices,” by Kyle Stock, The Wall Street Journal, 7/25/11

Meaningful Change

How best to diversify boardrooms? Margaret Heffernan suggests six “rigorous and consistent” actions companies should implement right away, including term limits for board members and candidate lists that include 50% women.

READ: “More Women on Boards: A Great Goal, But…” by Margaret Heffernan, BNet, 7/27/11

Inspiring Entrepreneurs

You may have heard of Pepsi’s Indra Nooyi, but what about Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw? Kiran is the founder of Biocon, a biotechnology company based in Bangalore, India, who was recently named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. Want to learn more? Here’s a quick primer on the Indian businesswomen leading the way.

READ: “Five Most Admired Women Entrepreneurs in India,” Silicon India, 7/20/11

On Monday, the U.S. Senate confirmed J. Paul Oetken for a federal judgeship in New York City, making him the first openly gay man to serve on the federal bench. While his confirmation is a milestone and a step in the right direction, it’s important to think bigger than firsts.

The LGBT community still faces enormous workplace hurdles in the United States, which are outlined in today’s Take 5:

1) Almost two-fifths (39%) of lesbian and gay adults in America’s workplaces report facing some form of hostility or harassment on the job, while 11% experienced very frequent or frequent harassment or discrimination.

2) Gay men earn 10% to 32% less than heterosexual people with the same job and personal characteristics.

3) Ninety percent of transgender individuals experienced harassment or mistreatment on the job, or took steps to avoid it, while 47% were fired, not hired, or denied a job promotion because they were transgender/gender non-conforming.

4) Only 310 Fortune 1000 companies have non-discrimination policies that include gender identity.

5) In 34 states, it is legal for LGBT employees to be fired simply because their employers discover, and disapprove of, their sexual orientation.

Some people consider transgender issues provocative or uncomfortable—at Catalyst we consider them squarely in the domain of women and work.

In recognition of LGBT Pride Month, on June 14, Catalyst hosted a webinar to examine the challenges transgender people face in the workplace. As a group within the LGBT community, transgender women face unique barriers, and they’re part of a group that’s typically left out of the conversation.

But only by discussing—and exposing—the stereotypes that transgender women face, can we educate and mitigate the barriers. So we took this opportunity to shine a light on this topic.

An umbrella term, the word “transgender”—or “trans,” for short—refers to people who identify with the characteristics, roles, behaviors, or desires of a gender different from the one they were assigned at birth. Transgender people helped spark the 1969 Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, a watershed moment in the history of the LGBT-rights movement. But more than 40 years later, transgender people continue to seek acceptance in society and the workplace.

According to a recent survey of transgender people by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality:

90% reported experiencing harassment, mistreatment, or discrimination on the job or took actions like hiding who they are to avoid it.

47% experienced an adverse job outcome, such as being fired, not hired, or denied a promotion.

26% reported that they had lost a job due to being trans or gender non-conforming.

Participants in the recent Catalyst webinar addressed some of these inequities.

“When I was male, I was headhunted constantly. When I transitioned, job opportunities for me evaporated,” said Maggie Stumpp, Chief Investment Officer at Quantitative Management Associates. Maggie blamed the drop-off in calls from headhunters on a pervasive anti-trans stereotype that trans people act out, overact gender roles, and are thus too risky to put into direct contact with clients.

“Some companies are afraid of exposing trans people to customers,” she said. Her company is not one of them. Maggie interacts with many customers face-to-face as she manages equity portfolios for institutional investors and large mutual fund clients. “The biggest myth is that somehow trans will embarrass the firm. And I challenge that.”

Despite 40-plus years of advocacy, transgender people are still not afforded the same legal rights as others. In Canada, a long-overdue federal trans-rights bill is snaking its way through Parliament, and in the United States protection is piecemeal and on a state-by-state basis. But while the law slowly evolves to protect the rights of trans individuals, a cultural shift is needed too.

According to webinar participant Brent Chamberlain, Executive Director at Pride at Work Canada and recent guest-blogger at Catalyst CanCon, a workplace advocate or champion for trans employees makes a difference. “They can be a role model and can be someone trans people can talk to, and other people can ask questions,” said Brent.

Asking questions and engaging in a conversation is one key to breaking down barriers between trans employees and their colleagues. “I wish people asked me more questions at work,” said Tamsyn Waterhouse, a software engineer at Google who also participated in the webinar. Employers, she added, should “give people the opportunity to ask questions.”

“Identifying as trans is part of who I am, but first I am a human, then a woman, then trans, then a software engineer,” said Tamsyn.

A few minutes of conversation can open a window of understanding and mutual respect. Start now—take pride in your actions.

“He doesn’t like me because I’m a woman,” my friend said recently about her boss. “And he hates me because I’m a lesbian.”

My friend is a “double outsider”—she battles two sets of stereotypes every day. One is based on gender, the other on sexual orientation.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people represent up to 21% of the general population while up to 70% of straight people know someone who is LGBT. But despite recent milestones in acceptance, LGBT employees still suffer from subtle and outright discrimination at work.

Many argue that broad federal legislation is the solution. Currently, there are 29 states in the U.S. where it is still legal to discriminate based on sexual orientation and 38 states that permit discrimination based on gender identity or expression. My friend lives in one of them.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is a proposed US law that would prohibit discrimination against workers on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity for civilian nonreligious employers with 15 or more employees.

Right now, the Act appears stalled. But even if it does pass this year, I think laws only go so far.

In Canada, laws ensure sexual orientation is not grounds for dismissal from a job. But our 2009 study, Building LGBT-Inclusive Workplaces, revealed discrimination in Canadian workplaces against LGBT employees—especially LGBT women.

Female LGBTs reported less friendly workplaces than LGBT men. For example, 70 percent of LGBT women reported that their manager evaluated performance fairly versus 80 percent of LGBT men. And 76 percent of LGBT women, versus 85 percent of all others, reported that their manager was comfortable interacting with them.

Unsurprisingly, LGBT women were “out” to only 50 percent of their workgroup—versus 72 percent of LGBT men.

“Double outsider” status prevents LGBT women from being who they want to be at work. But when people bring their whole self to work—and do not expend energy on hiding who they are—everyone wins.

LGBT employees working in inclusive environments indicated better workplace relationships, increased career satisfaction and greater commitment to the job. In the long run, this can translate to greater productivity and less staff turnover.

So don’t wait for laws to end discrimination. Legislate for yourself—lead by action.

Monica Palacios, the famous comic and writer, has navigated various labels over the course of her career. On stage, Palacios riffs:  “When I was born, I was of Mexican-American persuasion. Then I became Chicana. Then I was Latina. Then I was Hispanic. Then I was a Third World member (my mom loved that). Then I was a woman of color. Now I’m just an Amway dealer. And my life is happening.”

Her comments are in jest but the underlying meaning rings true: unique identities are blurred when society puts a label on an entire group. But a person’s gender, race and sexual orientation are part of his or her identity—part of what makes a person valuable to an employer.

“For whatever reason, people assume I am black, but I am also Latina,” a bi-racial friend told me recently.  “When a Latina group was forming at my company, no one even asked me if I wanted to join it!”

Recognizing the fact that broad labels can unintentionally exclude some individuals, Catalyst recently renamed one of our main research areas. The areas formerly called Women of Color in the U.S. and Visible Minorities in Canada are now called Diverse Women & Inclusion. Deeper layers of identity among women—especially in global contexts—can involve class, sexual orientation, caste, disability, nationality, and immigrant status. The new term Diverse Women & Inclusion was intended to cover all of these particular factors in a more sensitive and inclusive way.

And that’s what it’s all about.

Careless labels can engender blatant stereotyping. More than a decade ago, Catalyst released a groundbreaking report on the way managers perceive women from diverse backgrounds. Latinas reported being stereotyped as lazy or too focused on family, citing managers who consistently underestimated their talents and capabilities because they spoke English with an accent.  Black women reported facing stereotypes about being too direct. They described having to worry about whether the braids in their hair contributed to a perception that they were too radical or too bold. Asian women reported being stereotyped as passive “China dolls.”

In more recent Catalyst research, LGBT women discussed various dimensions of discrimination in Canada. “As a lesbian woman, I have sometimes had to fend off occasional stereotypes of lesbian women as all butch and muscular and ungainly—I’m none of these,” said one employee. Roughly a quarter of the LGBT women reported that their manager was not comfortable interacting with them.

These attitudes may explain why diverse women are so poorly represented at the top in Fortune 500 companies. In 2005, the most recent year for which data is available diverse women held 1.7% of corporate officer positions and only 1.0% of top earner positions. I’ve talked a lot about the glass ceiling, but for diverse women the ceiling is concrete. To fix this, workplaces need to embrace, develop and leverage their diverse workforce.

Catalyst is committed to representing the full spectrum of women worldwide. To do so, we’ve updated our own labels. The question is: are you working to change yours?