In 2017, the World Economic Forum released some shocking statistics: Women are measured as having 68% of the chances and outcomes that men have and how that translates into time is, it would take 217 years (from 2017) to achieve workplace equality between men and women.
If that figure seems old, here's something new: According to a new study released by Carta, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company that helps startups manage employee and investor equity, female employees at startups own 47 cents for every dollar of equity a male employee owns. Although the report covered a range of industries in the country, the statistic is perhaps most relevant in the tech industry.
Yes, these statistics are disheartening but at the same time present an opportunity for change and activism, according to Shereen Shermak who took on the job of leading this effort at Boston Women's Workforce Council.
An initiative spearheaded by Mayor Marty Walsh's office, the Boston Women's Workforce Council is a public-private partnership between the mayor's office and the Greater Boston business community tasked with closing the gender pay gaps in Boston by removing visible and invisible barriers to advancement for women in the workforce.
And the council's first task led by Shermak, a startup industry veteran and angel investor, is to get more employers to sign the 100% Talent Compact and engaging them in actions that advance gender equity in the workforce. Under the pledge, employers will commit to performing an internal assessment to see if gender-based disparities exist, subsequently create and implement a plan to address them along with contributing to the BWWC’s aggregate analysis of the Greater Boston gender pay gaps by race and job category.
A number of Boston-area companies including startups like Acquia, Compt, and organizations like TiE Boston, Year Up, Mass Tech Collaborative has signed the pledge.
It's not all gloom and doom, there is some noticeable change already, just that it comes from women-led companies. Sankeetha Selvarajah, startup attorney and managing shareholder at Selvarajah Law, P.C notes that unsurprisingly, female founders tend to engage more women and make more of a definitive effort. "These statistics are sadly accurate," Selvarajah said. "Anecdotally speaking, I have noticed that female-led companies, tend to leave a larger reserve pool for outstanding shares and tend to engage more with female employees."
