Is your organisation’s gender inclusion approach leaving some women behind?

Gender has been a key fixture in organisations’ strategies for the past two decades so why has more progress not been made? Who is missing out?

On the 8th of March, International Women’s Day will focus on the theme of ‘Invest in women: Accelerate progress’. Its aim: to ensure women’s and girls’ rights across all aspects of life, as this is “the only way to secure prosperous and just economies, and a healthy planet for future generations”. So, what better time than now to reflect on the progress made towards women’s inclusion in, and by, organisations, and consider whether this has been truly inclusive of all women. At SLR, we have been tracking trends across two key areas where we support our clients to inspire and drive inclusivity: International development and corporate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I).

In both areas, the concept of intersectionality has come into much sharper focus. It’s a term developed by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 as a way of looking at how intersecting identity traits, such as race and gender, can lead some people to experience significant oppression and disadvantage.

So, how does accounting for intersectionality drive inclusivity? What does your organisation need to consider and how could it benefit?

From poverty reduction to opportunity creation: The move beyond gender equality in international safeguards standards

Gender has been a crucial part of the safeguarding standards and guidelines produced by leading international lenders such as the World Bank and IFC since the late 1990s.

Early efforts at introducing gender into wider development and poverty reduction strategies came from the World Bank Group (WBG). Early strategies and guidelines hailed gender equality as a key driver for poverty reduction. Traditionally, concerns with gender in the international development sector focused primarily on ensuring equal economic opportunities for men and women, seeing gender equality as ‘smart economics’ and ‘a significant contribution to poverty reduction’.[1] This understanding of gender had the potential to oversimplify women's experiences, portraying all women as vulnerable without taking into account the diverse challenges faced by different groups of women due to other intersecting factors such as ethnicity / race, social status, education, or employment.

For the past twenty years, the development industry has been realising the importance of cultural context as well as socioeconomic factors and intersectional identities in determining different outcomes for different groups and categories of women. A notable shift towards a more holistic approach was reflected in more recent updates to the social safeguards standards required by lenders on international projects. Greater emphasis is now placed on the complex and overlapping sociocultural factors, which may contribute to the heightened vulnerability of some women compared with others, meaning access to opportunities is not equal. Gender equality cannot be achieved through a one-size-fits-all approach but requires tailored strategies that address the specific needs and challenges faced by different groups of women.

As presented in the World Bank’s 2015 Gender Strategy, gender equality requires a country-driven approach which takes into account context and cultural appropriateness to identify which interventions work where and for whom.[2] Taking an intersectional approach to projects’ impact on gender dynamics allows us to better mitigate negative impacts as well as enhance positive opportunities for women. As a consequence of this shift, social safeguard consultants are now required to dig deeper into local socioeconomic and cultural contexts to identify disparities between different women’s experiences and recommending measures that are targeted to the specific needs of diverse groups of women.

Women in corporate leadership: A reversal in hard won progress and the need to consider the intersection of race and gender

DE&I schemes to support women in the workplace are often the longest-running and are sometimes presumed the most advanced compared with DE&I programmes relating to other constituencies. Progress had been steady. However, the latest WEF Global Gender Gap report shows there has been a concerning reversal in this trend with 2023 women in leadership hiring rates returning to 2021 levels. The 2023 McKinsey Women in the Workplace Report, which tracks trends in corporate America, shows that women directors are leaving at a higher rate than in previous years and at a higher rate than men at the same level, meaning there are fewer women in the pipeline for leadership positions. The report also highlights how at every step of the talent pipeline, representation of women of colour falls relative to white women and men of the same race and ethnicity. Payscale’s 2023 Gender Pay Gap Report also shows that women of colour see the fewest opportunities for advancement and wider pay gaps as they advance in their careers. While this data is specifically from the US, it reflects a growing need for companies globally to address the intersection of race and gender, so that companies can accurately analyse their demographic data, avoid bias, and create solutions that support the individuals that make up their workforce.

What does this mean for you?

The business case for diversity has been clear for several years – a 2019 study by McKinsey showed that companies with greater gender diversity on their executive teams were more profitable than those with least diversity, and the evidence for the positive impact of ethnic and cultural executive diversity on profitability was even stronger.

For international lenders, by incorporating intersectionality into their approach to gender equality, organisations can not only enhance the social sustainability of their projects but also contribute to more inclusive and equitable development outcomes. With an intersectional approach as the foundation of each project, organisations can ensure their efforts to promote gender equality leaves no woman behind, ultimately leading to the most effective outcomes for all.

Whether you work in the corporate sector or in the field of international development, there are steps your organisation can take to incorporate intersectionality into its approach:

• Take an intersectional approach to data collection: this ensures career development programmes and opportunities are truly inclusive of intersectional groups that are currently at the greatest disadvantage.
• Conduct thorough analysis of gender data: this ensures we take into account the diverse experiences and needs of women from different intersecting identities.
• Actively engage with local communities, especially marginalised groups: this ensures their voices and concerns are heard and addressed at all stages of a project, from project design through implementation to project close.
• Invest in capacity building and empowerment programs for women from underprivileged backgrounds: this can help address systemic barriers to their participation in development initiatives.

SLR’s team of highly qualified and experienced gender specialists have successfully delivered gender-related projects worldwide and our ESG advisory team advises clients on their corporate DE&I approaches. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your organisation’s approach to gender inclusion.

[1] World Bank (2001) Integrating Gender into the World Bank’s Work: A Strategy for Action.

[2] World Bank Group (2015) 2016-2023 Gender Strategy – Gender Equality, Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Growth.