Having a career as a woman is tough, something I don't have to tell anyone. In a world where old, white men are in power, there's only one choice: To smash the patriarchy.
While too many executive ranks and boards are still lined with too many men, the scientific facts actually speak for diversity. Credit Suisse has observed this in several reports and confirmed it in its 2019 report: Companies with a higher proportion of women at the executive level generate higher returns (source).This conclusion has also been supported by other studies: McKinsey& Company found that diversely managed companies are more likely to outperform (source), while the Peterson Institute for International Economics is even more specific: When leadership is at least 30% female, net profits increase by up to 6% (source).
So why is it that more senior positions have not been held by top female performers for a long time?
An overwhelming legacy
Social norms and stereotypes stick with all of us all. Ideas and opinions about women have been ingrained for centuries. Although we have seen one or two strong feminist movements in the last century, we remain at a point where women are equal on paper through laws such as suffrage and labor rights, but live entirely different lives in practice than their male counterparts or partners.
This is also evident from the data: The gender pay gap is not a random phenomenon in which women earn less, but is the result of a structural imbalance in a society that pushes women into the role of caregivers and childrearers. The resulting career breaks and part-time employment lead to a wage gap of 19% for the average Austrian woman compared to her male counterparts. This figure becomes even more disturbing knowing that this leaves us another third worse off than the EU average, which is "only" 13% (source). In fact, only one country in all of Europe, Estonia, is worse than Austria in promoting women and careers. A pretty hefty balance sheet.
The role of the role model
As a matter of fact, the media reproduce images of women that do not promote equality. Advertising in particular is a striking negative example of this and a mirror of society. Household, care and family issues are still predominantly communicated to women, suggesting that these issues are their responsibility. Yet we need women in the management ranks of our corporations and companies.
As a matter of fact, the media reproduce images of women that do not promote equality. Advertising in particular is a striking negative example of this and a mirror of society. Household, care and family issues are still predominantly communicated to women, suggesting that these issues are their responsibility. Yet we need women in the management ranks of our corporations and companies.
However, probably one of the biggest influencing factors since the legal equality of the sexes on paper is the visibility of role models. We are particularly aware of the power of visibility in the advertising industry, after all we live on it; constantly fighting for the millisecond of attention in the (sub)consciousness. It shapes needs, opinions, ideals. Economically, we have understood this for a long time. Socially, it's only slowly realized.
At this point, while writing these lines, I am tempted to speak of "luck". Fortunate that I myself have found an environment that does not reduce my abilities to my gender identity and promotes me as a woman. That's how deeply this thinking is etched into my head as well. This is, of course, absolute bullshit. Not being discriminated against is the bare minimum. The fact that reality often looks different is simply unacceptable.
Because visibility makes the difference, it is even more important for women to take on leadership positions. In this role, there is no such thing as "female" leadership. There is responsibility and recklessness, consistency and caring, criticism and appreciation - and also dominance. Whatever the connotation – ultimately gender identity should no longer play a role.
"Creating meaningful impact beyond the byte" is the credo we have agreed upon as digitalwerk. For me, that means ensuring equality and leading by example. While my co-creation of communication as an account director in a digital agency definitely has a small but limited impact on the identity of brands, my own role in my private cosmos naturally makes the biggest difference. In addition to my professional role, it's my responsibility to take that role outward, into my social bubble, in front of female colleagues or applicants, in front of my family, in front of grandmas who weren't allowed to work, and in front of my son, who is learning a self-confident and equal image of women. And also into a room full of old, white men, as they still exist in corporations.
