You don’t need to take a headcount to realise plastics has a serious boardroom inequality problem.
Gender Gap
Not only is gender imbalance in any industry indicative of women not being given the same opportunities as men, but it is economically inhibitive too. And as a woman who attends a lot of press conferences chaired by the C-level executives of the world’s biggest names in plastics processing, I am sick of there being so few women in top-level positions. There are enough companies out there and chairs round the boardroom table to imply that there must be qualified females willing to take those seats, but for one reason or another, their male colleagues were chosen instead.
I took a look at the boards of ten of the world’s biggest injection moulding machinery companies and counted 59 senior management executives and directors. Of those 59, three are women. That’s five per cent.
Narrowing it down to injection moulding machinery companies with headquarters in the European Union, this figure does not improve, with just six per cent of boardroom positions being filled by women. Yes, Europe may be leading the world with industry 4.0 and the Circular Economy, but when it comes to gender representation, we are still very much mired in the Dark Ages. And as for any other kind of boardroom diversity, from racial diversity to representing the differently-abled, the headcount rounds up to a big fat zero.
The Old Boys Network is alive and well in plastics processing in Europe and it remains a contemptible institution that promotes elitism, nepotism and chumocracy, as opposed to fairness, transparency and meritocracy. I am not against family businesses – growing up with a family business engenders a pride and understanding in a brand that takes a long time to cultivate among normal folk, but I am always in favour of an individual’s advancement based on their own abilities, and the qualities they can bring to a role and an institution.
Looking at the most profitable injection moulding machinery companies of the world, there is a serious gender gap that, unless action is taken, may take generations to close, and generations before we see parity in the board room. But there are many reasons why companies should accelerate their efforts to invite more women into their places of business.
Data published by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) has revealed that in the EU, demand for STEM professionals is expected to grow by eight per cent by 2025, which is much higher than the three per cent growth forecast anticipated for all occupations. At this pace of growth, manufacturing, engineering and other STEM professions cannot afford to ignore their current poor uptake of skilled women, as bringing more females into the market ensures economic growth.
The work needs to begin before these women enter the jobs market, with only 12 per cent of female graduates taking a STEM subject at university compared to an average 37 per cent of men. But even this gender gap isn’t as gaping when compared to the male/female disparity in board rooms.
Engineering currently operates with an 81 per cent male, 19 per cent female employment split, while manufacturing is almost even with a 51 per cent male, 49 per cent female split, but for some reason none of these women are being enabled to advance to the most senior positions.
Why is that? The EIGE data indicates that as men get older, their share of STEM jobs increases and while mothers are under-represented in male-dominated professions, the opposite can be said for fathers. There is also a trend for men to work longer hours if they work in a male-dominated profession.
A modern attitude towards flexible working and a workplace culture that supports work-life balance are definitely inhibitors for females to progress – even more so if they are mothers.
The European plastics organisations that make their workplaces better for women, be in terms of culture, flexible working, or simply breaking the board room executive mould, will benefit. EIGE believes that with improvement in gender equality, improvement in GDP will be up by €130 to €180 billion, or between 0.7 and 0.9 per cent GDP per capita by 2030, with this going up to as much as €820 billion improvement in GDP – or three per cent improvement in GDP per capita by 2050 with rapid improvement in gender equality.
What else does this mean? It means 1.2 million jobs in 2050. And for a European plastics processing company looking to continue to grow, their pool for talent will be greater if they open it up to more women, who can help their company to evolve, succeed and hopefully lead.