ChatGPT on advancing women's leadership

How much has really changed over the last few years for women? According to Fortune, this month, for the first time in a 68-year history, more than 10% of Fortune 500 companies are led by women. There were five new female Fortune 500 chief executives that started January 1, bringing the number of female CEOs up to 53 and pushing the tally over the long-awaited threshold. This is a gain of 2% over when I posted last April. At the same time, research on the gender pay gap shows it’s barely budged in the last two decades. A few notable points from this Forbes article include these metrics:

• In 2022, women earned 17% less than men on average.
• Women earn just 82 cents for every dollar a man makes.
• Men in the legal industry earn an average of 59% more than women.
• Women of color are among the lowest-paid workers in rural areas, with rural Black and Hispanic women making just 56 cents for every dollar that rural white, non-Hispanic men make.
• Latinas were compensated just 54% of what non-Hispanic white men were paid in 2021.
• Black women were paid 58% of what non-Hispanic white men were paid in 2020.
• Native American women are typically paid only 60 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
• A 20-year-old woman just starting full-time, year-round work stands to lose $407,760 over a 40-year career compared to her male counterpart.

And, in our own industry, as of 2023, there is no clear answer to what percentage of international assignees or expatriates are women. However, according to a few recent studies and reports, women make up a small proportion of international assignees. For example, a survey conducted by the RES Forum in 2020 found that women accounted for only 15% of international assignees. Similarly, a study by Mercer in 2019 found that women accounted for only 16% of international assignees. These statistics probably have not changed much during the pandemic and suggest that there is still a gender gap when it comes to international assignments, and more efforts are needed to encourage and support women to take on these roles.

For some further inquiry, I thought I would try out ChatGPT to ask the question of "How can corporate talent mobility support the advancement of women in leadership?" and here was the response provided:

"Corporate talent mobility can support the advancement of women leadership in several ways:

1. Increase Opportunities for Leadership Roles: Talent mobility programs can create opportunities for women to take on leadership roles across different functions, departments, and even geographies. This helps to broaden their experience and exposure, which in turn increases their chances of being considered for top leadership positions.

2. Encourage Networking: Talent mobility programs can also help women build relationships across different areas of the business and with different levels of leadership. These relationships can provide women with access to mentors, sponsors, and other advocates who can help them navigate the organization and advance their careers.

3. Build Skills and Competencies: Talent mobility programs can provide women with exposure to new and different business challenges, which can help them build new skills and competencies. These experiences can be particularly valuable for women who may have been historically excluded from certain types of roles or experiences.

4. Address Unconscious Bias: Talent mobility programs can help to address unconscious bias by providing a more objective assessment of talent and potential. By using data-driven metrics to evaluate performance and potential, organizations can help to reduce the impact of unconscious bias on talent decisions.

5. Support Work-Life Integration: Talent mobility programs can help women to find roles and opportunities that align with their personal and professional goals, which can support work-life integration. By providing flexibility and choice in how and where work is done, organizations can create an environment that supports women's leadership aspirations.

Overall, corporate talent mobility can help to break down barriers to women's leadership by creating opportunities for development, building networks, addressing unconscious bias, and supporting work-life integration. By doing so, organizations can create a more diverse and inclusive leadership pipeline that reflects the diverse perspectives and experiences of their workforce."

In my opinion, that's a great answer! Given it is Women’s History Month and that Wednesday, March 8th is International Women’s Day (IWD) let’s spend some time considering how talent mobility can help us to Embrace Equity, which is this year’s theme for IWD! It’s an unconditional call to action to challenge gender stereotypes, call out discrimination, draw attention to bias, and seek out inclusion.

For a collection of articles focused on women and mobility, hit this link!