Despite T&T having its second consecutive female President, women in the business world still have a long way to go before they are treated in the same way as men, according to several female business leaders who spoke to Sunday Business Guardian.
Many more women still need to break the proverbial glass ceiling, the female business leaders said.
In March, Christine Kangaloo was sworn in as the seventh President of T&T and she also has the honour of being the second female President.
President of the Human Resource Management Association of T&T Cavelle Joseph-St Omer said women are making progress but “slowly.”
“In T&T, women are rising (slowly, but rising nonetheless) into positions that allow them to demonstrate influence in action, geared towards the achievement of organisational goals. We observe this in politics, civil society organisations, academia, and the corporate world.
The performance of women in the C-Suite and boardrooms are less than stellar and there is a need for greater opportunities and gender parity,” she told the Business Guardian.
Women account for approximately only one in every five members of a board of directors in T&T, according to the latest Corporate Directors’ Compensation Survey.
The survey was presented last August by HRC Associates.
Commenting on this, Joseph-St Omer said people get on boards because of networking and because men tend to be at the higher levels in the corporate world, naturally they choose other males.
“One out of five means eighty percent or so are men. So when thinking about who they are adding to the board, they are going to go to their comfort zone, or the usual suspects. It means, women need to network and build those bonds of trust, that is required for the boardroom. It is also important to acknowledge the importance of having a professional background, commercial experience and knowledge of good corporate governance.”
On the topic of salaries, she said there is still a considerable pay gap between men and women.
She referred to data by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) from 2018 which showed that the pay gap between men and women in T&T ranged from 8.9 per cent for technicians and associate professionals and up to 34.7 per cent for service and shop sales workers.
“Despite significant progress in female labour force participation over the past 25 years, pervasive and ongoing gender differences remain in participation, productivity and earnings.
“Gender differences in paid and unpaid time at work are an important aspect of gender inequality. Women tend to spend more time on unpaid household and family care work, and men spend more time on paid work. This unequal distribution of time creates barriers to women’s advancement at work and reduces women’s economic security.”
Looking into the future, she said companies and businesses must make gender equality a part of their corporate vision.
“Many forward-thinking organisations are making gender equality a matter of policy, whether it’s committing to equal representation of women in the boardroom or through their hiring policies and procedures.
“Discouraging and circumventing bias through hiring policy will help organisations reap the benefits of balance and equality. Several organisations seek political correctness or buzzwords, however, if diversity, inclusiveness, and gender equality become policy and are embedded in business strategy and culture, businesses will thrive. ‘
Obstacles
Organisational development and leadership consultant, Maxine Attong, who has coached women in the corporate world, told Sunday Business that it is “unfortunate” that many women in corporate T&T still face obstacles to recognition and advancement despite high levels of education, experience and success.
“When we juxtapose this against the fact that since 1983 more women have enrolled at University of the West Indies (UWI) it makes us wonder why only one in five board seats are occupied by women.”
She said women are impacted by two main psychological situations that erode their ability to move forward and limit their ability to set and achieve their personal and professional ambitions called the “imposter syndrome” and the “second shift.”
Imposter syndrome means women doubt their abilities even when they are high performers.
“A 2020 KPMG report shared that 75 per cent of executive women have personally experienced imposter syndrome during their career and 74 per cent of executive women believe that their male counterparts do not experience feelings of self-doubt. As a result, women are less likely to apply for jobs for which they are suitably qualified, to comfortably ask for promotions or raises and to negotiate for the remuneration that they deserve.”
The second shift concept means women work a double day or second shift as they perform most of the household and child care responsibilities, this is compounded for single mothers, she said.
“As a result women often report feelings of guilt, inadequacy and relationship tension, as they progress in their professional career. I have coached many women whose regrets include placing work commitments above attending a child’s sports day or PTA meeting.
Remote working and flexible work hours, having a dedicated child care area at the workplace, normalising children in the (virtual or physical) workspace, can help women who have caregiving responsibilities. Women can also limit the second shift effects by hiring help, where affordable.”
On the issue of pay inequality between genders, Attong said the pay gap is an artificial and persistent problem that affects women and calls for companies to re-examine their hiring and compensation practices to ensure that they are not perpetuating inequality.
“Pay should be based on qualifications, skills and experience, rather than gender and outdated stereotypes about women’s roles or on biased, unscientific beliefs about women’s financial needs. This is an easy fix. We need to continue the conversation about gender equality in corporate T&T.”
