With 42% of South African households headed by females, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2024 Global Gender Gap report revealed that closing the gender wage gap will take another 134 years.
A leadership expert and managing director at IIE Rosebank College, Dr Linda Meyer, lamented that women remained subject to economic exclusion as they still lagged behind men when it came to income equality in the workplace.
Despite strides being made to counter the gender biases in all economic sectors, where men tend to be at the helm of senior leadership, the WEF reported that only 32% of women occupy executive positions.
“In today’s corporate landscape, achieving gender balance is a pressing challenge. While awareness around diversity is growing, translating intent into action often eludes many organisations,” said Meyer.
Meyer highlighted that South Africa was also beset with gender pay inequality.
According to a PwC 2022 report, only seven of the top 100 companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) were led by women.
Across all JSE-listed companies, women CEOs stood at 8%, while women chief financial officers numbered 22%. In all, women made up 15% of the executive population.
Moreover, the global political landscape also had an underwhelming presence of women.
Meyer said little visibility of women in political arenas would hinder the enacting of policies that are inclusive and empower women.
“In the political arena things are faring no better, as women’s representation in the African Parliament is a mere 26% in 2024. This is particularly troubling given the importance of policy decisions impacting women and children. Rwanda leads the continent with 61% female representation in parliament, while Nigeria lags with less than 4%,” said Meyer.
South Africa had better figures, but there was a shortfall of women in the National Assembly.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) chairperson, Mosotho Moepya, reported that 43.5% of the elected representatives were women, whereas 56.5% were men.
Such statistics displayed slow economic inclusion and growth of women in executive roles, propelling their career stagnation.
Hence, Meyer noted that absorbing more women in executive roles would prevent gatekeeping of young women who are just starting their careers.
“A critical area where this change can be accelerated is by appointing women into vacant leadership roles, underpinned by robust succession planning that grooms and supports female candidates.
“Effective succession planning is essential in promoting gender diversity. We cannot simply accept that it will take over a century for women to stand on an equal footing with men.
“Organisations must prioritise succession planning that actively elevates women into leadership positions, ensuring that transformation is more than just a policy on paper,” said Meyer.
The Star