Why misogyny’s bad for business

Sep 18

Women, world peace, and the workplace | 4-min read

Happy Saturday from Washington, where I’ve had a week full of serendipitous encounters with people, readings, and a handful of mind-blowing stats. With this newsletter, I’ve learned that I can plan topics all I want, and then the universe giggles and sends a lightning bolt that simply must be shared.

So this week, I bring you some serious #facts about the not-so-shocking links between women, world peace, and the workplace.

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Last year, a fascinating (but grossly under-covered) study was published linking gender equality with world peace.

To summarize, researchers at two major universities wanted to understand what societal factors are most correlated with conflict. The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, aimed to find better ways to predict instability and promote peace across the globe. To that end, the researchers spent five years looking at over 200 countries with varying levels of conflict, and this is what they found:

Nations with high levels of gender inequality, defined by a list of factors from unequal property rights to polygamy, tended to have more violence, weaker governance, and less stable institutions. Conversely, societies with greater gender equality, measured by factors like access to education and representation in government, engage in fewer wars, suffer less violence, and have more effective institutions.

This is compelling but not surprising; past research has already shown that peace deals last longer when women are part of the negotiating process, and parliaments with more female representation pass more climate-change friendly policies. The list goes on.

In sum, gender inequality is a primary indicator of instability, and gender equality drives peace, stability, and a generally better world.

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What does this have to do with work? Everything.

The same aspects of gender equality that lead to world peace and conflict resolution also just so happen to drive economic growth, innovation, and business success.

Business studies, meet peace and conflict research.

One of the latest and largest studies of gender equality in the workplace, conducted by McKinsey and LeanIn.org, found a clear correlation between company performance and the representation of women in the executive suite.

Some nuggets:

Companies with more women executives earned a 47% higher rate of return on equity than companies with none
Companies in the top quartile (25%) of gender diversity are nearly 30% more likely to have above-average profits (compared to others in their industry)
Stock prices of companies with a gender-diversified board outperform those with all-male boards
If women’s talents were fully leveraged across the global workforce, global GDP would increase by $12 trillion – an amount equal to the sum of the Chinese and U.S. economies.

And yet, women are still under-represented and under-valued in the workforce. Women still account for less than a quarter of the C-suite of Fortune 500 companies and are 18% less likely to be promoted when compared to male coworkers. The imbalance is even starker for women of color.

There is absolutely no denying that we have made progress in the arena of gender equality, but that progress is not yet enough, and, worse, it’s not secure.

In the past month alone, we’ve watched tragic regression in women’s rights in Afghanistan, reversal of women’s reproductive rights in Texas, and painful accounts from the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team detailing how persistent sexual abuse was tolerated and then covered up by the very institutions that are designed to protect us. We’ve also watched a record number of women leave the workforce – a drop in workforce participation that is a real concern to all who believe, as I fervently do, that representation matters in the world and at work.

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And so we must continue to do more and do better – areas I will be exploring deeply in my work in the months and years ahead.

But as we do advocate for change, it’s essential we keep these studies in mind.

Gender inequality is often viewed as an injustice to correct; and while this is very true, these studies suggest we also look at gender equality as an opportunity to drive more innovation, profit, and peace for everyone.

Valerie Hudson, lead author – and a woman – of the world peace study, writes:

“While we might be tempted to see all of this as a human interest sideshow to the high politics of the world, nothing could be further from the truth…The fate of nations is tied to the status of women.”

Today, more than ever before, the same is true for the office.