Tag: gender equality

8th March is International Women’s Day 2020 and this year’s theme, #EachForEqual, focuses on the need to take collective action to create a world that’s fair and unbiased. It’s a time when women and men everywhere should strike the distinctive #EachForEqual pose to motivate others to stand up for what’s right. 

It is not a lack of talent that resulted in 30 JSE listed companies being without female representation on their boards, and a further 67 that may fall into this category. Rather, it is that female talent lacks deep experience in comparison to their male counterparts.

SA’s top companies are starting to embrace the concept of fair and responsible remuneration, and some have even adopted and disclosed a living wage that goes beyond the national minimum wage.

In South Africa it is well known that women suffer the brunt of our many socio-economic issues. This is largely how females are viewed across South African culture, rather than as a matter of law. According to the Economic Freedom of the World index, South Africa scores 1.0, the highest possible score, according to the gender adjustment variable.

Improving female participation in work across the OECD could boost total GDP by US$6 trillion, according to a new report released by PwC. Analysing the representation and welfare of women in the world of work across 33 OECD countries, PwC’s latest Women in Work Index also finds that the OECD could gain US$2 trillion by closing the gender pay gap.

Despite decades of progress towards achieving equality in the workplace, women remain significantly under-represented in emerging tech. The imbalance between men and women in the technology sector is unlikely to be remedied unless organisations, schools and universities work together to change entrenched perceptions about the tech industry, and also educate young people about the dynamics and range of careers in the technology world. 

To mark International Women’s Day (IWD) on Thursday 8 March 2018, PwC surveyed over 3,600 professional women (aged 28-40) to find out about their career development experiences and aspirations. The survey included respondents from employers across 27 industry sectors and from over 60 countries worldwide. These women are at the point in their working lives where the gap between men’s and women’s progression begins to widen significantly and the challenges of combining careers and personal priorities increase.

But no women at all in senior roles in 20% of SA businesses, is concerning. Although almost one third (29%) of senior roles in South Africa are now filled by women, one in five local businesses (20%) still have no women at all in senior positions. These are among the findings of the 2018 Grant Thornton International Business Report focused specifically on research regarding Women in Business.