Women in leadership

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Beatrix Dart discusses the barriers that women currently face in getting the top leadership roles

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Beatrix Dart discusses the barriers that women currently face in getting the top leadership roles

Image courtesy of interviewee. March 28, 2024

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This video discusses the ongoing challenges and progress in women's advancement in the workforce, particularly in Canada. The speaker reflects on over 20 years of interest and advocacy in this area, noting that despite some progress—such as an increase in women on corporate boards from 12% in 2014 to 34% in 2024—there remains significant underrepresentation in senior roles, especially in CEO positions.

The speaker highlights the historical struggles for women's rights, including voting and the right to sign loans, and points out that stereotypes and biases still hinder women's progress, particularly for BIPOC women who face additional intersectionality-related challenges. While many companies have improved in areas like diverse recruiting, mindset changes and the perception of women's contributions still lag behind.

This video emphasizes societal pressures that women face—in particular, the expectation to balance professional success with family responsibilities. Women often shoulder the majority of caregiving and household management responsibilities, which can lead to stress and burnout, especially during challenging times like the COVID-19 pandemic.

The speaker discusses the importance of supportive workplace policies and the need for partnerships where responsibilities are shared more equally. They call for a cultural shift to encourage men to take on more domestic roles and advocate for raising children with an egalitarian mindset.

Ultimately, the text argues that achieving true gender equality requires collaboration between genders and a commitment to change societal norms, ensuring women can pursue their careers and aspirations freely and equitably.

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Here are five key points from the video regarding women's advancement:

1. **Underrepresentation in Leadership**: Despite women making up 50% of the population, there continues to be significant underrepresentation of women in senior roles and on corporate boards, although there has been progress in recent years, such as a rise in the percentage of women on boards in Canada from 12% in 2014 to 34% in 2024.

2. **Historical Convideo of Women's Rights**: The video outlines historical milestones regarding women's rights, like gaining the right to vote in Canada in 1918, the introduction of maternity leave in the 1970s, and parental leave policies evolving in the 1990s. This historical perspective highlights that advancements have been gradual but significant.

3. **Societal Pressures and Responsibilities**: Women often face overwhelming societal expectations to balance professional success with family responsibilities. The video notes that women generally take on more caregiving and household management roles compared to men, which can lead to stress and burnout.

4. **Mindset and Bias Challenges**: There remain ingrained biases and stereotypes that affect women's promotions and career advancement. The video discusses the disparity in how men and women are promoted, with men often promoted based on perception and women recognized for their hard work, indicating a need for a shift in organizational mindsets.

5. **Importance of Gender Equality in Business**: The video emphasizes that gender diversity in leadership roles is beneficial not only for ethical decision-making and corporate social responsibility but also for financial performance. It encourages efforts to change societal norms and promote shared responsibilities at home to facilitate women's advancement in their careers.

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Here are some key quotes from the video regarding women's advancement and the challenges they face, as well as the importance of gender equality:

1. **On Women's Underrepresentation:**
- "If you consider that 50% of the population is female, I would say there's no doubt that there's still under representation going on, particularly in senior roles and on boards."

2. **Acknowledging Progress:**
- "I think we also should celebrate the progress that has been made, particularly in the Western developed world."

3. **Historical Convideo:**
- "Think back to the early stages... in the generation of women who fought for women voting rights... that was only granted in 1918 in Canada."

4. **Current Statistics:**
- "In 2024, we now have 34% of women on corporate boards in Canada... we have 29% of women in executive roles."

5. **Bias in Promotions:**
- "As long as men are still getting promoted based on perception, but women are getting promoted based on the hard work they are delivering, we have a major mindset issue."

6. **On Sponsorship vs Mentorship:**
- "Women are often over mentored... but having a sponsor who will stick out their neck for women... that is still something women experience way less than men."

7. **Societal Pressure:**
- "Combining professional success with family responsibilities is still overwhelmingly expected from women, and not from men."

8. **On Emotional Labor:**
- "76% of part-time roles in Canada occupy by women because they feel it is too challenging to combine their professional lives with their responsibilities at home."

9. **Post-COVID Impact:**
- "Women actually came out of that much worse than men... caused for many women an enormous amount of stress and burnout, leaving the workforce."

10. **Importance of Partnerships:**
- "Finding the right partner is really an important factor in your life decision... having that discussion upfront on how the stage of life will look for the two of you is crucial."

11. **On Gender Diversity:**
- "We know that gender diversity is good for business. Having more women on boards... is not only good for your bottom line financially speaking, but it's also great for more ethical decision making."

12. **A Call for Change:**
- "Don't let anyone ever tell you that you're not cut out for it or that you can't do it. You can figure it out. But it requires both genders to work together and to support each other."

These quotes encapsulate the speaker's insights on the progress and ongoing struggles of women in the workforce, the necessity for societal change, and the importance of partnership and mentorship in achieving gender equality.

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Women advancement has been an area of interest for me

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for over 20 years.

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And if you consider that 50% of the population is female,

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I would say there's no doubt

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that there's still under representation going on,

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particularly in senior roles and on boards.

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However, I think we also should celebrate the pro progress

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that has been made and happened,

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particularly in the Western developed world.

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So think back to the early stages, you know, in,

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in the generation of women who fought, for example,

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for women voting rights

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that was only granted in 1918 in Canada,

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and then the next generation of women who fought

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for things such as maternity leave

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or the right to sign a mortgage

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or a loan when you were a single woman.

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That only happened in 1970s.

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Uh, and you can move forward like the concept

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of parental leave.

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Um, that was finally intro introduced in 1990s.

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Now, you know, it is extended to an 18 month kind

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of extended version that only happened in 2017, right?

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So, so I belong to a generation of women

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who are pushing for more equal, advancement

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of women in the workforce.

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That is sort of my place.

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And when we, for example, launched

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the 30% club chapter in Canada in 2014,

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we only had a baseline number of 12% women on boards.

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So look at where we now stand.

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We have, you know, in 2024, we now have 34% of women

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on corporate boards in Canada.

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Uh, we have 29% of women in executive roles.

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Now, I have to admit,

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the caveat is we only have about 6% in CEO roles.

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Um, we have 43% of women in senior management roles and,

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and over 55% in women of women in sort

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of the pipeline towards senior management roles.

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So, well that is not perfect.

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It's actually tremendous success.

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And you in Canadian companies have honestly come a long way.

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There are mandatory disclosure for women on boards

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that certainly has helped.

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Um, and there is also num, there are numbers for women on,

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in publicly traded companies

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who are in senior executive roles, you know, so all

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that transparency has also added to accountability.

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Biases and stereotypes are still alive and kicking.

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If you look at bipoc women in particular,

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you can see the challenges, that they experience

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with intersectionality, right?

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Any kind of discrimination based on, on race

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or, colonialism or ableism

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or homophobia.

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And while many companies have made great progress

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with their processes, such as, more diverse recruiting,

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so the HR processes have been fixed quite well,

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there's still a huge gap in terms of mindset changes

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and, and perceptions, right?

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So how do you change people's mindsets and perception?

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And as long as men are still getting promoted,

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based on perception,

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but women are getting promoted based on the hard work they

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are delivering, and often

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that is not even properly recognized.

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You know, we have a major mindset issue

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and we see that in many ways.

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We see that mindset issue also in the lack

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of sponsoring women in their, in their careers.

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So women are often over mentored.

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But you know, having a sponsor who is usually a person

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of, of power, of decision making power, who will

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stick out their neck for women and say, she can do this.

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She's absolutely right.

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For this next promotion, for the next role,

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that is still something women experience way less than men.

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So there is again, you know, a sign of mindset challenges

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that is happening in terms of stereotypes and biases.

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However, I would say the big elephant in the room is

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societal pressure on women.

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Combining professional success with family responsibilities

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is still overwhelmingly sort of expected from women,

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and not from men.

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It's women who usually shoulder the caretaking

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responsibilities, whether it is home labor or childcare

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or, you know, women put twice as many hours in

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as men on that front.

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And, you know, taking time off when a child is sick,

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or even if it is for a home repair call,

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is still usually a woman's role.

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So think about

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how many women are working in part-time roles

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follow the part-time roles in Canada.

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76% occupy for women

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because they feel it is too challenging

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otherwise to com combine their, their professional lives

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with their responsibilities at home.

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And that is not even accounting for all the emotion labor

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where women are doing as well.

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And that is such as, you know, organizing a birthday

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or remembering grandmother's prescription

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to be picked up at a pharmacy, or

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Getting the dinner plans ready

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and meals on the tables, right?

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So you find currently a high number of women

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reporting severe stress and burnout.

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And if you think about Covid as one of the biggest global

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workplace experiments ever, forcing everybody

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to work from at home, you can see

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that women actually came out of that much worse than men.

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Increasing number of women have left the workplace, many

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with mental health challenges, and it wasn't

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because their professional workload has increased, rather,

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actually many were quite grateful

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that they didn't have a daily commute

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to the workplace anymore.

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Um, what we saw was societal pressure.

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At its worst, it was the women's shouldering,

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the additional emotional labor cost, the home-based labor,

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the childcare challenges

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as children couldn't attend schools or childcare.

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And that caused for many women an enormous amount of stress

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and burnout, leaving the workforce

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and clearly not taking advantages

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of potential career opportunities.

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So women do generally,

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actually quite well in their early stages of careers.

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If you look at the numbers of women who successfully

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complete university degrees,

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it's quite significantly higher than those of men.

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Uh, they are also very successful in getting started early

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on in their careers.

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We see that even in the pipeline to senior management.

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We have about 55% women in

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that pipeline leading up to senior management role.

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So women do quite well kind of

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until they make the decision

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to have family and to have children.

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So that usually brings up challenges,

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challenges at the work front and also at the home front.

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Now, the challenges at the work front are usually

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easier to deal with, and I know that might sound surprising,

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but you know, you can, you can be proactive finding

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companies that are very supportive of the needs

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that you might have, during your family stage career.

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So you can find companies

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who have strong female role models, female leadership,

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which represents a culture

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that is friendly to towards women.

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You can find companies that will have very supportive,

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flexible career policies,

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that will also bring back women in a kind of alumni program,

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allowing you to reenter the workforce

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after you have taken time off for an extended period of time

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to, to reenter.

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So look out for those companies that will be supportive

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of your needs as you're entering that stage of of life.

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The bigger challenge is how to deal with your home front

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and particular, the societal pressure that that comes

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with beco entering motherhood.

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You as a mother will be considered as the main caretaker.

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You will be in charge of the happiness of the family,

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which can include anything from thinking about the meals to,

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you know, ensuring that everybody's emotional need is

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taken care of as well.

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So how do we change the expectation

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that all this additional burden is sitting

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on the woman rather than equally shared by men and women?

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And how do we encourage men to step up into this role?

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So finding the right partner is really an important factor

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in your, in your life decision.

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Of course, and it, I know it sounds, but now,

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but quite frankly, finding a partner

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and having that discussion upfront how the stage

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of life will look for the two of you is crucial.

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And yet you would be surprised

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how few young couples have this kind of discussion.

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The latest poll by the magazine, the economist

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that pulled 27 countries in Europe,

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shows that men under 30

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were more likely than men over 65

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to agree that advancing women's

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and girls, rights has gone too far.

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That it now hinders opportunities for men and boys.

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So think about it. So we now have a young generation

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of men under 30 who believe already that men,

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that the rights of women and girls has gone too far.

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That is alarming, and that does not fall bode well.

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So finding the right partner in your life is

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more important than ever.

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We know that gender diversity is good for business.

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There have been many cases made

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that having more women on boards

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and having more women in senior executive roles

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is not only good for

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for your bottom line financially speaking,

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but it's also great for more ethical decision making,

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more corporate social responsibilities,

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and even for more innovative approaches.

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So we want more women in senior roles in companies.

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We want more women represented partially

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because it's a financially something to do, but also

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because it's the right thing to do.

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It's the fair thing to do. How do we get there?

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However, if societal norms are still

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stuck in the classic role of 50 years ago

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where women are still shouldering the majority of homework,

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childcare work,

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and emotional work on the home front,

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how do we make progress on that front so that women feel

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supported and freed up to advance into their aspiration

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and into their careers?

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Changing society is not easy.

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Don't let anyone ever tell you that you're not cut out

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for it or that you can't do it.

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You can figure it out. But it requires both gender

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to work together and to support each other.

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So we have a responsibility

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to even raise our young children to have

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an equal mindset about roles

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and support in the household front.

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In many cases, that means we have to break with traditions.

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How we raise our children is usually based

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on how we were raised.

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That doesn't help in this case.

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We need to figure out how to instill even in young children

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the norms that we want to see.

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The tolerance for equality, the tolerance

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for open-mindedness.

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Only then will we be successful in having a society

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where men and women can equally advance,

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where women will be free to pursue a career

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and aspiration of their dream.

Celebrating Women's Progress and Ongoing Challenges

00:00:00 - Women advancement has been an area of interest for me for over 20 years. And if you consider that 50% of the population is female, I would say there's no doubt that there's still under representation going on, particularly in senior roles and on boards. However, I think we also should celebrate the pro progress that has been made and happened, particularly in the Western developed world. So think back to the early stages, you know, in,
00:00:36 - for women voting rights that was only granted in 1918 in Canada, and then the next generation of women who fought for things such as maternity leave or the right to sign a mortgage or a loan when you were a single woman. That only happened in 1970s. and you can move forward like the concept of parental leave. that was finally intro introduced in 1990s.
00:01:08 - of extended version that only happened in 2017, right? So, so I belong to a generation of women who are pushing for more equal, advancement of women in the workforce. That is sort of my place. And when we, for example, launched the 30% club chapter in Canada in 2014, we only had a baseline number of 12% women on boards.
00:01:40 - We have, you know, in 2024, we now have 34% of women on corporate boards in Canada. we have 29% of women in executive roles. Now, I have to admit, the caveat is we only have about 6% in CEO roles. we have 43% of women in senior management roles and, and over 55% in women of women in sort
00:02:09 - So, well that is not perfect. It's actually tremendous success. And you in Canadian companies have honestly come a long way. There are mandatory disclosure for women on boards that certainly has helped. and there is also num, there are numbers for women on, in publicly traded companies who are in senior executive roles, you know, so all that transparency has also added to accountability.
00:02:43 - If you look at bipoc women in particular, you can see the challenges, that they experience with intersectionality, right? Any kind of discrimination based on, on race or, colonialism or ableism or homophobia. And while many companies have made great progress with their processes, such as, more diverse recruiting,

Mindset Shifts Needed for Women's Advancement

00:03:14 - there's still a huge gap in terms of mindset changes and, and perceptions, right? So how do you change people's mindsets and perception? And as long as men are still getting promoted, based on perception, but women are getting promoted based on the hard work they are delivering, and often that is not even properly recognized. You know, we have a major mindset issue
00:03:48 - We see that mindset issue also in the lack of sponsoring women in their, in their careers. So women are often over mentored. But you know, having a sponsor who is usually a person of, of power, of decision making power, who will stick out their neck for women and say, she can do this. She's absolutely right. For this next promotion, for the next role,
00:04:20 - So there is again, you know, a sign of mindset challenges that is happening in terms of stereotypes and biases. However, I would say the big elephant in the room is societal pressure on women. Combining professional success with family responsibilities is still overwhelmingly sort of expected from women,
00:04:49 - It's women who usually shoulder the caretaking responsibilities, whether it is home labor or childcare or, you know, women put twice as many hours in as men on that front. And, you know, taking time off when a child is sick, or even if it is for a home repair call, is still usually a woman's role.
00:05:22 - how many women are working in part-time roles follow the part-time roles in Canada. 76% occupy for women because they feel it is too challenging otherwise to com combine their, their professional lives with their responsibilities at home. And that is not even accounting for all the emotion labor where women are doing as well. And that is such as, you know, organizing a birthday
00:05:53 - to be picked up at a pharmacy, or Getting the dinner plans ready and meals on the tables, right? So you find currently a high number of women reporting severe stress and burnout. And if you think about Covid as one of the biggest global workplace experiments ever, forcing everybody to work from at home, you can see

Women's Workplace Challenges Amid Societal Pressures

00:06:26 - Increasing number of women have left the workplace, many with mental health challenges, and it wasn't because their professional workload has increased, rather, actually many were quite grateful that they didn't have a daily commute to the workplace anymore. what we saw was societal pressure. At its worst, it was the women's shouldering, the additional emotional labor cost, the home-based labor,
00:06:56 - as children couldn't attend schools or childcare. And that caused for many women an enormous amount of stress and burnout, leaving the workforce and clearly not taking advantages of potential career opportunities. So women do generally, actually quite well in their early stages of careers. If you look at the numbers of women who successfully complete university degrees, it's quite significantly higher than those of men.
00:07:29 - on in their careers. We see that even in the pipeline to senior management. We have about 55% women in that pipeline leading up to senior management role. So women do quite well kind of until they make the decision to have family and to have children. So that usually brings up challenges, challenges at the work front and also at the home front.
00:08:02 - easier to deal with, and I know that might sound surprising, but you know, you can, you can be proactive finding companies that are very supportive of the needs that you might have, during your family stage career. So you can find companies who have strong female role models, female leadership, which represents a culture that is friendly to towards women.
00:08:32 - flexible career policies, that will also bring back women in a kind of alumni program, allowing you to reenter the workforce after you have taken time off for an extended period of time to, to reenter. So look out for those companies that will be supportive of your needs as you're entering that stage of of life.
00:09:03 - and particular, the societal pressure that that comes with beco entering motherhood. You as a mother will be considered as the main caretaker. You will be in charge of the happiness of the family, which can include anything from thinking about the meals to, you know, ensuring that everybody's emotional need is taken care of as well.

Finding Equitable Partnerships for Gender Equality

00:09:33 - that all this additional burden is sitting on the woman rather than equally shared by men and women? And how do we encourage men to step up into this role? So finding the right partner is really an important factor in your, in your life decision. Of course, and it, I know it sounds, but now, but quite frankly, finding a partner
00:10:04 - of life will look for the two of you is crucial. And yet you would be surprised how few young couples have this kind of discussion. The latest poll by the magazine, the economist that pulled 27 countries in Europe, shows that men under 30 were more likely than men over 65
00:10:36 - and girls, rights has gone too far. That it now hinders opportunities for men and boys. So think about it. So we now have a young generation of men under 30 who believe already that men, that the rights of women and girls has gone too far. That is alarming, and that does not fall bode well. So finding the right partner in your life is
00:11:06 - We know that gender diversity is good for business. There have been many cases made that having more women on boards and having more women in senior executive roles is not only good for for your bottom line financially speaking, but it's also great for more ethical decision making, more corporate social responsibilities, and even for more innovative approaches. So we want more women in senior roles in companies.
00:11:40 - because it's a financially something to do, but also because it's the right thing to do. It's the fair thing to do. How do we get there? However, if societal norms are still stuck in the classic role of 50 years ago where women are still shouldering the majority of homework, childcare work, and emotional work on the home front, how do we make progress on that front so that women feel
00:12:12 - and into their careers? Changing society is not easy. Don't let anyone ever tell you that you're not cut out for it or that you can't do it. You can figure it out. But it requires both gender to work together and to support each other. So we have a responsibility to even raise our young children to have an equal mindset about roles

Rethinking Parenting for Gender Equality

00:12:43 - In many cases, that means we have to break with traditions. How we raise our children is usually based on how we were raised. That doesn't help in this case. We need to figure out how to instill even in young children the norms that we want to see. The tolerance for equality, the tolerance for open-mindedness. Only then will we be successful in having a society where men and women can equally advance, where women will be free to pursue a career
00:13:13 -

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