Today, there are Chief Executive Officers and founders from all over the world. However, although the world has gone a long way towards gender equality, sexism still exists. You may wonder if gender disparity has affected the business world.
Historically, many founders and CEOs are male. Many of the most famous people are no exception like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and more.
How has this changed? In the last 20 years, female CEOs are on the rise. However, about 90% of the Fortune 500 companies are still headed by male CEOs.
What Causes Disparity:
According to Business Insider, unconscious bias plays a large part. More men are promoted in the workplace than women. They may also be judged differently. Business Insider mentions a report where the authors believed that men are hired on what they can do in the future, whereas women are hired on what they have already done. This can make it harder for women to rise the ranks than a man.
Also, historically speaking, many leaders were men not women. This gives a misconception to society that men are strong leaders. People may expect different genders to do their duties. For example, women may be expected to take care of the children and clean the house while men go out to earn money.
This outdated expectation is slowly changing. As the world enters a more modern age, old beliefs are slowly being changed. There are more and more female leaders today, and the numbers will still increase.
How to Change:
A start to changing gender inequality in the workplace is to make company culture more diverse and inclusive. Hiring more women is a great place to start, as well as providing some type of training to close the gap.
As a teen, this may not be affecting you. However, you may work in the future and face this unfairness. Bridging this gap will lead to not only a more diverse but also a more inclusive and accepting workplace for everyone, no matter your gender.
Written by Allie Chang