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Supporting women in their financial journeys is both a responsibility and an opportunity for financial professionals. Women face distinct hurdles from pay gaps to longer life expectancies that demand tailored financial strategies. By addressing these obstacles and empowering female investors, financial advisers can create meaningful impacts on their clients’ lives and financial well-being. Here’s how you can step up your game to better serve the women who rely on you for guidance……..Continue reading….
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Source: Kiplinger
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In the 59 economies included in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor research project, female entrepreneurship ranges from just over 1.5% to 45.4% of the adult female population. Although entrepreneurial activity among women is highest in emerging economies (45.5%), the proportion of all female entrepreneurs varies considerably: from 16% in South Korea to 55% in Ghana (the only economy with more female entrepreneurs).
Moreover, in many emerging economies, women are now starting a business faster than men, making significant contributions to job creation and economic growth. Women are also more likely to start businesses focused on sustainability. In 2014, Peterson Institute for International Economics surveyed nearly 22,000 companies across the world. They found almost 60% had no female board members.
Just over 50% had no female C-suite executives, and fewer than 5% had a female CEO. The results varied across countries: Norway, Latvia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria had at least 20% female representation at senior executive and board level. Japan, however, had only 2% female representation at board level and 2.5% at senior executive level.
The report on their survey, published in 2016, found having more women in overall executive positions correlated to greater profitability at organizations: “Going from having no women in corporate leadership (the CEO, the board, and other C-suite positions) to a 30% female share is associated with a one-percentage-point increase in net margin — which translates to a 15% increase in profitability for a typical firm.”
A 2015 study of 400 female C-suite executives by Ernst & Young and ESPN found that there was a positive correlation between athletics and corporate success. Over 52% of C-suite executives played competitive sports, compared to 39% of women at lower management levels. of the executives included on Fortune’s 2017 list of Most Powerful Women, 65% played competitive sports in high school, college, or both.
In 2023, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women released a report summarizing the global state of women in leadership positions. The report covered data from 165 countries, and concluded that while women are catching up in terms of education, women are still “underrepresented in management positions in the workplace”.A disproportionate share of female-owned businesses in
developing countries today are either small or medium enterprises, which often do not mature as a result of negative growth and poverty. Understanding the specific barriers women’s businesses face and providing solutions to address them is necessary to further leverage the economic power of women for growth and the attainment of development goals.
Increased participation of women in business can be important for variation in business development, ideas, and business products. Participation also encourages the development of social networks and supports that have positive repercussions for women and for their social environment.
The status of women in business varies significantly around the world. Sometimes a lack of adequate business capital, female education, and training programs in the use of technology can mean women are more constrained by their social and political environment than men.
As of February 2023, in the US, women hold 29.2% of senior-level positions in S&P 500 companies (of which 8.2% are CEO positions). There are approximately 2 women per board; the average S&P 500 board consists of 11 members. This is despite women being 46.8% of the workforce, and controlling more than 50% of personal wealth in the US along with approximately 75% of household spending.
One in nine corporations on the Fortune 500 list still do not include any women on their board. 50/50 Women on Boards, established in 2010 to advocate for an increase of female positions at board level and greater board level gender equality, states that as of December 2022 women held 28.4% of the Russell 3000 Index company board seats, with women of color holding only 7% of seats. The 28.4% figure represents a 1.7 percentage-point increase from December 2021.
Catalyst, a US-based non-profit research organization, reported that having a higher percentage of female board directors was positively associated with companies’ scores on four of six Corporate Social Performance dimensions: environment, community, customers, and supply chain. Catalyst also found a positive correlation between companies’ board diversity and philanthropic giving.
Given the projected talent deficit that will follow the retirement of millions of ‘Baby Boomer’ managers and executives over the next 20 years, female leaders may be seen by an increasing number of employers as an untapped source of talent, experience and senior-management leadership. However, a 2018 study showed female CEOs are 45% more likely to be fired than their male counterparts, even if they are doing a good job.
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