Gender inequality: where are all the men?

In 2011, Sheryl Sandberg told women at a New York conference audience, “The most important career choice you'll make is who you marry”. The Facebook COO said involving men in the gender parity debate was key to women’s success. 

And the scope of the debate is significant: when Sandberg spoke in 2011, women held 21% of senior roles worldwide. Since then the number has increased by just 3%. During the same period, the fraction of global businesses without women represented at senior management has not budged from one-third. 

Between the 1970s and 1990s, the western world appeared to make good progress towards gender equality in the workplace. Women started graduating from college at equal or superior rates to men. The proportion of women in traditionally male fields – STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) – increased. Indeed, the wage gap narrowed. But progress has since stalled. “We seemed to hit a wall,” says Dr Sherman.

Why is executive leadership still a man’s game, even when firms compete for top talent?

At the 2017 student-led LBS Women in Business (WiB) Conference, women in top positions considered whether the answer boiled down to bias. They shared candid experiences spanning everything from missing out on promotions to dealing with derogatory comments.

Bias is important, says Dr Sherman: “But it’s far from the whole story. It’s an insufficient explanation for gender inequality today. Bias can’t explain why childless women have higher earnings – even compared to men.”