Stop Measuring Women As Part of Diversity
Gender is a Critical KPI and Business Metric in the 21st Century
Since the late 20th century, it seems like so many things have moved so fast that we’ve forgotten just how recently everything started shifting. Take for example — women in the workplace. Sure, women have worked in some capacity forever. Pre-Industrial Revolution, women were a major player on the family farm. However, the mid-19th century saw the second wave of feminism rolling in, and that meant women were going to work.
It’s easy to imagine those events as far removed from our current moment. But the truth is, it’s been less than 100 years, which in the grand scheme of things is a drop in the bucket of human history. Fast-forward to the present— the pandemic has put women disproportionately out of work, but it also showed that female world leaders have some of the most effective leadership strategies. Yet, we continue to discuss female inclusion in the workplace as some sort of metric towards our DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) goals.
When gender balance is framed as a women’s issue instead of a business issue, it can easily be sidelined and bypassed in unessential to business performance. This sidelining, whether intentional or not, makes light of the shifts and changes in demographics, market…
