New Data Supports Paradigm for Parity® Coalition’s Mission to Close the Gender Gap in Corporate Leadership

The Paradigm for Parity® coalition is at the forefront with a solution to get more women into corporate leadership positions. New research supports the coalition’s premise that gender-balanced leadership is good for business. Last week, S&P Global published a report which finds that firms with female CEOs and CFOs produced superior stock price performance, compared to the market average. Specifically, companies with a female CEO saw a 20% increase in stock price and companies with a female CFO saw a 6% increase in profitability and 8% larger stock returns in her first 24 months in the position. Moreover, firms with female CFOs generated $1.8 trillion more in gross profit than their sector average. Additionally, firms with a high gender diversity on their board were more profitable than firms without gender diversity.

However, despite the strong evidence that gender diversity in leadership strengthens a company’s bottom line, the annual Women in the Workplace study released last week by McKinsey and LeanIn.org found that women continue to be underrepresented at every level. The report also found that the biggest challenge women face is a “broken rung” as they seek to get from entry level to management level positions. The report finds that for every 100 men hired to be a manager, only 72 women are promoted or hired at the same level.

The Paradigm for Parity® coalition was founded to reverse these trends in corporate leadership — both for economic reasons and for the benefit of society. The coalition currently includes 109 companies whose CEOs have pledged to achieve full gender parity in their leadership ranks by 2030, with a near-term goal of women holding at least 30% of senior roles.

The coalition has developed a 5-Point Action Plan to serve as a roadmap to ensure that all women who want to advance are given that opportunity. This unique agenda defines bold and specific actions that, taken together and simultaneously implemented, will catalyze change and allow companies to more effectively increase the number of women from diverse backgrounds in leadership positions.

The five points are:

• Eliminating or minimizing unconscious bias in the workplace through regular training;

• Significantly increasing the number of women in senior operating roles;

• Measuring targets and maintaining accountability by providing regular progress reports;

• Basing career progress on business results and performance, rather than physical presence in the office; and

• Providing sponsors, not just mentors, to women well positioned for long-term success.

Today, diversity in leadership is a business imperative and the Paradigm for Parity® coalition has the tools to support companies on this important journey. We are creating a new norm in corporate leadership, one in which women and men of all races, cultures and backgrounds have equal power, status, and opportunity. To learn more about joining the Paradigm for Parity® coalition and the movement to level the playing field for women, contact the coalition here.