‘Women as likely to be CEOs as men,’say 54% men

With more organisations across the world putting in efforts to make workplaces more inclusive, a significant number of men have begun to see women as equal or almost so. Most men today do not consider gender as a drawback when it comes to employees joining the senior ranks in the organisation, reveals a research by IBM Consulting and Chief.

In 2019, less than one-third of men thought it was as likely for a woman to be a CEO as a man. Today, that is, in 2023, 54 per cent men share the same view! That is quite an improvement.

It was always believed that science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields were dominated by men. However, today, 70 per cent of men believe that the position of chief information officer (CIO) is as much available to women as men. Four years ago, only about 38 per cent of men thought so. Again, a remarkable improvement.

Back in 2019, respondents of the survey thought it would be at least 50 years before women would be equally represented in leadership ranks in their industry. Four years later, the figures are looking a lot better. Today, respondents feel that within ten years there would be equal representation of women in leadership positions! Clearly, there is a lot of optimism in the air with regard to gender parity in leadership.

Since the year 2021, more employers/ companies have launched initiatives aimed at women’s progress. About 61 per cent of organisations today have formal networking groups in place for women, while in 2019, only about 46 per cent organisations had such groups.

Today, more organisations (78 per cent) are giving their women opportunities to develop and plan their careers as compared to a meagre 56 per cent in 2021. A significant 65 per cent organisations demand that their managers receive diversity training, covering gender-related topics. In 2021, only 52 per cent organisations required this, and in 2019 only 28 per cent.

In terms of supporting key work-life balance initiatives too, the percentage of organisations has grown since 2019, when only 48 per cent organisations offered flexible hours. In 2023, 59 per cent
organisations allow flexibility to their employees for work-life balance.

In 2019, only about 18 per cent organisations had relaunch programmes for employees returning after extended leave. In 2021 that figure improved to 41 per cent and in 2023 that has further improved to 63 per cent.