The Say/Do Gap When it Comes to Women’s Futures
Racepoint Global
At RPG, we shape conversations that matter for tech-forward brands.
As Women’s History Month ends, I’ve been thinking about the women in my agency career who were willing to place bets on me.
My first agency gig?
A tech PR shop where 2 of 3 founders were women.
My second agency gig was in an office co-led by women.
Then I was hired by a woman whose boss was a woman.
Lest I position myself as a serial job hopper, suffice to say that I’ve been lucky to work with and learn from many great PR professionals who happened to be women.
This is why this stat from last year’s Global Women in PR study struck me: Women make up about 2/3 of our profession, yet only hold about 1/3 of senior positions. If low levels of leadership representation are the case in a female-dominated profession, no wonder technology and business lag behind.
This Matters Because
The UN's theme for International Women’s Day earlier this month was “Invest in women: Accelerate progress."
There’s no shortage of ways to invest in women, from improving women’s health outcomes and supporting reproductive rights, to tackling gender biases and having more women in technology.
Yet tackling these challenges requires systems thinking. It will take time to see meaningful progress. But one area of investment that continues to confound me is that women (mostly) still get paid less than men for doing the same job.Yes.
The. Same. Job.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Additional perspectives
Gen Z and Pay Equity?
According to a 2023 report by the World Economic Forum, by 2025, “Gen Zers will account for a third of the global population, and they’re unwilling to make the same career mistakes as their parents or struggle to balance work and family.”
While some reports make clear that Gen Z is going to force the shift to equity, they’re not quite there yet: Gen Z has a gender wage gap, too.
Women’s History Month, like many such observances, calls on us to celebrate the contributions of women around the world. And so we should.
It seems to me it will be a good day when, rather than lauding pioneering women for overcoming obstacles, we can celebrate the removal of obstacles within a more equitable and just society.
Until then, communicators and leaders can assume that an activist and purpose-focused generation of new workers and consumers will surely hold brands accountable for gaps of all kinds: the gaps in pay that are based on gender, race, and other characteristics, and the gaps between what we say and what we do.
What conversations matter to you? Hit us up and we’ll dig a little deeper together in a future edition.
Bob Osmond, president, Racepoint Global