Currently, the barriers that women face to reach leadership positions, in addition to stereotypes and diverse situations, have not diminished in our country. The presence of women in CEO positions and senior positions is relatively low, taking into account that in Peru 58% of companies have gender equity policies, the result was that only 21.3% of these companies in the country have a woman as a leader CEO, according to the PAR Latam 2020 ranking prepared by Aequales.
This scenario is repeated in Latin America, where the reasons why companies do not place women in high positions are diverse, such as stereotypes and gender roles present in society, less time to dedicate to work or studies, structures and masculine rules in organizations, workplace sexual harassment, the lack of female labor networks, lack of recognition of the contribution of women, among other aspects, which make it difficult for women to participate and represent female leadership positions.
However, in the face of this situation, the ILO (International Labor Organization), has presented through a study that companies and businesses that have women in high positions register higher performance and accelerate innovation. At the same time, UN Women reports that companies that have women as leaders develop improvements in decision-making processes, among others.
“The owners of the companies and members of the board of directors (responsible for appointing or changing the CEO), within the framework of their main function, which is to look after the interests of the company, have an enormous opportunity to successfully face the “new normal” and the related social challenges. For example, inclusion, appointing brilliant and competent female executives to the General Management. Leading companies in the world have already started and the results have been satisfactory». That is mentioned by Fernando Gonzáles, founder of Bigmond Group, a firm that promotes equal employment opportunities.
Giving visibility and presence to women as CEO’s in senior positions will allow the strengthening of work among them. It is not enough to implement gender equity policies if the companies themselves do not comply with them or do so halfway. Companies must create programs aimed at female members of the company, as well as everyone in general, in order to achieve equal opportunities and rights between both genders.
Fuente: Canal N