In our male-dominated economy, it’s women who provide the most opportunity for us to grow. Conrad Liveris explores what we stand to gain through gender equality.
Gender equality is often pushed aside as a “women’s issue”, and only in benefit of the sisterhood. But I think it’s time we all started thinking seriously about it.
Being brought up with both of my parents working, where both of my grandmothers had led careers of their own, and having worked primarily for women so far—I realised I had a role to support women. I am unashamedly a member of the misterhood, men who are active in their pursuit of gender equality and who want to see opportunity spread, beyond a narrow field.
Understanding the struggles of the discriminated is part of who I am. It is what gets me up in the morning and keeps me going. Why? Because I know diversity is the source of great opportunity for our society and economy.
The OECD in 2012 noted in their research that women are 20% less likely to secure full-time work than men. Meanwhile women are the majority of law graduates, growing numbers of MBA graduates, and highly sought after in the IT and technical fields. I suppose this explains the glass ceiling—there is only so far that a woman can go.
I recognize the inherent power that is perceived to come with being male, and the very real impact this perception has upon our society. Our CEOs, academic and economic leaders, politicians, and judges are predominantly male. I don’t know why this is, because it shows that we’re only pulling from 50% of the population.
I hear my friends who are thinking about children considering how they’re going to juggle their career and family. Recently, I’ve started asking those women to stop having that discussion alone—but to have a rational conversation with their partners and come to reasonable conclusion. When my parents first had children in the 1980s, my dad went to my mum and said that he wanted to spend some time being a primary-parent. He took six-months off work and my mum could start to resume her career, and get a break from my brothers.
I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by women who are prepared to have those discussions, and men who are interested in having them. A mentor of mine once told me “when women face retirement, we aren’t talking about financial capacity but poverty”. As my knowledge grew, I researched and realized that unless we start seeing that women can rise to leadership in the same way as men, then we’re going to see this issue continue.
And gender equality isn’t just about women. Think about LGBT rights or even when it comes to education—the LGBT community is seeking equality in front of the law, and education is about providing opportunity for boys and girls irrespective of their gender or background.
If we’re going to develop our industries and innovation into the future, we need to see women rise and for diversity to be an entrenched part of our society and economy. In Australia, it is suggested that our economy will grow by $93 billion, and for the US it is close to $2 trillion. We’re not talking small sums of money, but serious opportunity for growth that can revolutionise industries and grow jobs.
It was once said to me: you can’t have rights without understanding the responsibility. For so many of us, the way we think about responsibility is in-line with our family, our nation and our work. I can’t help but think what the benefits would be if we yielded talent from our great diversity—like the 178 million American women, the 86 million people aged under 20, the 40 million African-American people, or the 15 million Asian-Americans. That isn’t a deep look at American diversity, but we can all see that there is opportunity for us all to lead beyond reliance on the white-male hegemony.
Undeniably, there is great beauty in diversity, and how we can work together. When I look at all of that it is so easy to see that there is opportunity for us all—whether in our community groups, at work or even amongst entrepreneurs.
I want to see a world where everyone has the belief that they can succeed through hard work and pursuit of their dreams and happiness, and not on reliance of their name, race, school or gender. Only because I know it is a genuine opportunity in our time.
—Image by Troy Palmer. Light Bulb Designed by Romain Fleury/The Noun Project
I fully support equal opportunities for all. But there is so much more to life than striving for economic success in the capitalist rat race, or fighting for position in the social hierarchy. It is good to remember that those men and women who are not in the paid labor force are not doing nothing. They are raising families, running volunteer civic organizations, engaging in activism, creating art, and a whole host of other things that don’t show up directly in the GDP but do generate the social capital that is essential for our communities and societies to prosper.
I would like to point out “Looking at the total 6 million jobs lost during the official recession period, December 2007 to June 2009, we find that 74 percent of those jobs were held by men, compared with 26 percent held by women. Men’s employment declined by roughly 6 percent while women’s employment decreased by 2.4 percent. So, it’s true that men were disproportionately affected by job loss during the Great Recession.” …. Please explain how this fits your views. Equality? Then in June USA Today “The Labor Department said Friday that the economy added 175,000 jobs in May, with… Read more »