More Than Just One Day: Keeping Up The Momentum Of International Women’s Day

Last month, people around the world celebrated the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women for International Women’s Day. While March 8 serves as a meaningful moment in time for highlighting women’s contributions, it’s critical that we carry this passion and enthusiasm into continuing gender equity progress the remaining 364 days of the year. As we assess how to keep the momentum of International Women’s Day going in our day-to-day lives, we must consider how to leverage today’s workplace trends to accelerate the future of gender equity.

Employees Trust Their Employers, But There’s Still A General Trust Gap Along Gender Lines

This year on International Women’s Day, I joined a conversation convened by global communications firm Edelman to discuss the Edelman Trust Barometer, its annual trust and credibility survey, and the gender divide in trust.

The 2019 report found that women show distrust in 15 out of 27 markets, four more markets than men, including in the U.S., Germany, Australia, Japan, France and Canada. Globally, the trust gap stands at five points. Business has the largest gender gap in trust at seven points globally and 15 points in the U.S., plus there are eight markets where the gap exceeds seven points. On the other hand, the 2019 report showed that 75 percent of individuals surveyed trust their employers to do what’s right, significantly outranking their trust in NGOs (57 percent), businesses (56 percent), government (48 percent) and the media (47 percent).

As our corporate and personal identities become more blended, employees trust and expect that their employers’ values will reflect their own. The result when there is a gap between expectations and actions? As evidenced by the Me Too movement, the Google walkout and the gender discrimination lawsuit against Nike, employees will demand their leaders shift their actions to make gender parity a reality. The takeaway for employers: It is imperative that companies take the initiative to drive equity in the workplace before it is demanded of them.  

And They Expect Leaders To Take A Stand

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