The Glass Ceiling and the Persistent Problem of Gender Discrimination

More often than not, corporates pay lip service to gender equality — they have a policy in place without much changing on the ground. Most corporates worldwide are mandated by law to have a clear policy that deters sexual harassment and puts in place measures to check discrimination against women in the workplace, and in recent years there has been a concerted move by global corporations to promote gender equality by promising to shatter the so-called

“Glass Ceiling.” This term refers to the phenomenon wherein women in corporates fail to advance in their careers and the organizational hierarchy beyond a certain point, thwarted by a combination of visible and invisible barriers. Studies have shown that despite public commitments, only about one in four layers of senior management have women in leadership positions, and women — even in the top layers — are typically paid around 20% less than their male counterparts.

This is where a Gender Equality Strategy, and the scorecard that measures it, come in: a policy on paper is not enough without a corresponding way to track and enforce real change.

What is a Diversity Scorecard and Why it is Important

Typically, organizations have what is known as a Balanced Scorecard for measuring and tracking outcomes against goals. By “keeping the score” on how well they have been doing on various measures related to strategy, policies, and other imperatives, organizations use metrics and KRAs (Key Result Areas) to monitor and report overall progress on the goals they have set for themselves.

Similarly, in recent years organizations have also been using specific, function-wise scorecards, as well as scorecards that “tie in” the progress of each function or department with overall organizational goals. Examples include the HR Scorecard, used for measuring the performance of the HR function and how it fits into broader organizational objectives. In this context, one can “drill down” further, or move “sideways and crossways,” to prepare what is known as a Diversity Scorecard.

This emerging trend has caught the imagination of many business leaders worldwide, wherein their efforts at actualizing a workplace free from gender discrimination — the absence of the glass ceiling, the removal of visible and invisible barriers to women’s career progression — are some of the KRAs sought to be tracked and monitored.

The Parameters That Go Into the Diversity Scorecard

A Diversity Scorecard can be used to measure how many women were recruited in a given fiscal year, how many were promoted and at what levels, the percentage of women given raises in salary and bonuses, the number of discrimination cases reported, and how many women are managers and senior managers relative to men.

These parameters capture the organization’s state of gender equality and its conformity with regulatory rules, in addition to the critical question of whether the organization is truly “walking the talk” on gender diversity, or merely “paying lip service.” The Diversity Scorecard mirrors actual progress made against the goals that have been set.

The Many Benefits of a Diversity Scorecard

The importance of a Diversity Scorecard lies in the way it uses data to report progress, leaving little scope for “linguistic gymnastics” where senior executives routinely talk about diversity but very little is achieved on the ground. The parameters and metrics being tracked can be tied to the pay raises and bonuses of senior leadership and middle managers, so they are both incentivized and at risk of punitive action if they fail to meet the goals set for them.

A Diversity Scorecard can also be part of the Annual Report, so that shareholders and other stakeholders can see for themselves the progress being made toward a diverse, discrimination-free workplace. It can also help address the “pay gap” between men and women — at the heart of many problems related to gender and racial discrimination — as well as challenges around racial diversity, an inclusive workplace for LGBTQ employees, and a workplace free from discrimination against physically challenged employees.

A Gender Equality Strategy Needs More Than a Scorecard Alone

A well-articulated Gender Equality Strategy goes beyond a stated policy: it lays down a clear strategy map detailing what is sought to be achieved, how it would be achieved, and the measures used to track and monitor progress — in a manner similar to how corporates have a Marketing Strategy or a Five-Year Growth Strategy. This means defining clear targets, such as the share of women in leadership, middle management, and entry-level roles, along with milestones for how much time it should take and how progress will be measured.

For such a strategy to succeed, its formulators have to engage with multiple stakeholders — including external experts on the issue, women employees themselves, and leadership at all levels. Some experts also feel that the outcomes of a gender equality strategy should be tied to the remuneration and bonuses of leadership, so there is a real incentive to close the gaps that plague contemporary corporates, including the pay gap between men and women doing similar work.

A Gender Scorecard Should Not Be a Substitute for Window Dressing

Having said that, preparing a Gender Diversity Scorecard alone does not make an organization a genuinely diverse entity, no matter what it reports as progress. Many organizations pretend to be diverse and report progress, when in reality what they are doing is “window dressing” — showcasing a few prominent faces of women and other minority categories while, underneath, little has changed.

This is the reason some experts call for external entities to audit Diversity Scorecards in the same way financial statements and strategic outcomes are vetted by auditors and management consultants. There is always a temptation to show progress, since results are often tied to executives’ own performance appraisals. Unless diversity efforts are backed by the executive team, the full cooperation of middle managers, and the participation of HR, having a scorecard alone will not reflect how diverse an organization truly is.

Don’t Judge a Player by the Scorecard Alone

It is often said that in cricket, a scorecard tells only half the story of a match — it’s important to watch the match fully, and subsequent matches too, to gauge how a player has really performed. In the same way, a Gender Scorecard can be the first step toward actualizing a diverse workplace, though it is not an end in itself. This is why experts recommend organizations secure the “buy-in” of the workforce, so that a carrot-and-stick approach can be adopted where incentives are accompanied by genuine accountability.