Jani’s Journal Issue 16: Women in Nonprofits & Leadership
3/5/2024
Women’s History Month
March heralds Women’s History Month, a time to honor the invaluable contributions of women throughout history. As a woman deeply entrenched in the nonprofit sector, I find it imperative to reflect on the pivotal role women play in shaping our workplaces and leadership landscape. While nonprofits often outshine the corporate world in gender equality metrics, disparities persist, necessitating a collective effort towards equity and empowerment. This edition of Jani’s Journal is dedicated to all the women driving change in the nonprofit realm.
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🔗 Broken Ladders: Barriers to Women’s Representation in Nonprofit Leadership 🔗
Discover the stark realities of gender disparity in nonprofit leadership through the lens of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Despite comprising 75% of frontline nonprofit workers, women hold only 22% of large nonprofit CEO roles. Further, at the smaller nonprofits the gender wage gap is “only” 6%-13%, but jumps to 18% in the larger nonprofits despite having greater resources. Thankfully, the AAUW outlines recommendations to repaint this bleak picture:
Improve data collection by requiring reporting on gender and race of top leadership and board roles to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Labor, or Internal Revenue Service. The availability of widespread data would improve our understanding of the scope of the issues and better understand the effectiveness of targeted interventions. Better yet, nonprofits can voluntarily track and make this information available to the public.
Require paid family and medical leave, which research has shown increases the likelihood of women returning to the same employer after maternity leave rather than forfeiting the seniority needed to climb leadership ladders.
Pass equal pay laws and restrict employers from using pay history to determine current pay. Given that nonprofits typically offer lower pay compared to for profits, women pivoting out of nonprofit sector to seek higher pay risk their prior salary history being used as a factor in their next job, carrying forward their lower wages that could have also been tainted by discrimination.
Implement mentorship and sponsorship programs, including partnerships outside the organization to support career growth.
Understand and work to dismantle bias against women in leadership.
And specifically for women, participate in salary negotiation training. AAUW offers web-based salary negotiation training for free: https://www.aauw.org/resources/programs/salary/
Women’s Workplace Experience
🔗 Race to Lead: Women of Color in the Nonprofit Sector 🔗
Explore the unique challenges faced by women of color in nonprofit leadership roles. The Building Movement Project released a study of nonprofits and found:
“…[W]omen of color face some barriers that are similar to those experienced by white women or men of color, [but] the overlapping discrimination on the basis of race and gender places particularly acute burdens on many women of color.”
Even education does not insulate women of color from these burdens. The study finds that, of employees with a Master’s degree or higher, women of color are most likely to be front line nonprofit workers and least likely to be executive level employees. Recommendations for intervention include:
Systems change through increased philanthropic investment in organizations led by and/or focused on the issues impacting women of color and enforcement of existing anti-discrimination laws.
Organizational changes focused on decreasing bias through robust and equitable anti-discrimination policies and enforcement practices as well as pay transparency to shed light on pay-related discrimination.
Individual support through the creation of employee resource and affinity groups to supplement mentorship and sponsorship programs.
🔗 Women in the Workplace 2023 🔗
Unravel the truths behind prevailing myths about women in the workplace with McKinsey & Company’s comprehensive analysis:
Myth #1: Women are becoming less ambitious. The 2023 data shows that roughly 80% of women are interested in being promoted to the next level compared to 70% of women in 2019.
Myth #2: The biggest barrier to women’s advancement is the “glass ceiling.” The data shows for every 100 men promoted from an entry level role to manager, only 87 women were promoted. This “broken rung” makes them less and less available for promotion each step up the ladder.
Myth #3: Microaggressions have a “micro” impact. The data shows 78% of women who face microaggressions self-shield at work, or adjust the way they look or act in an effort to protect themselves making it harder to take risks, propose new ideas, or raise concerns—all things tied to perceived performance.
Myth #4: It’s mostly women who want—and benefit from—flexible work. The data shows both men and women say that opportunities to work remotely and have control over their schedules are top company benefits, second only to healthcare.
McKinsey & Company’s recommendations based on their 2023 study:
Track outcomes for women’s representation
Empower managers to be effective people leaders
Address microaggressions head-on
Unlock the full potential of flexible work
Fix the broken rung, once and for all
The Business Case
🔗 When Women Lead, Firms Win 🔗
Less than 10 years ago, the New York Times noted that “fewer large companies are run by women than by men named John.” Thankfully, women have since surpassed “the Johns” and are doing so with marked success. This S&P Global article by Daniel Sandberg unveils staggering statistics showcasing the outperformance of firms led by women. While the key takeaways below are profit focused corporate outcomes, nonprofits can glean lessons on sustainability and impact through reinvestment and expansion capital:
Firms with female CFOs are more profitable and generated excess profits of $1.8T over the study horizon.
Firms with female CEOs and CFOs have produced superior stock price performance, compared to the market average.
In the 24 months post-appointment, female CEOs saw a 20% increase in stock price momentum and female CFOs saw a 6% increase (both statistically significant).
Firms with higher gender diversity on their boards of directors were more profitable and larger than firms with low gender diversity.
Firms with female CEOs and CFOs have a larger representation of females on the company’s board (23% compared to the 11% market average).
Solutions for a Brighter Future
Common themes emerge from the above articles’ recommendations to better support women in the workplace and here are some great actionable strategies to foster a more equitable workplace environment.
Addressing microagressions, bias, and psychological safety. Loyal Jani’s Journal readers may remember some recent articles detailing just these topics, but in case you missed the December 12, 2023 edition I’ve linked it here.
Increasing support through employee resource groups, mentorship, and sponsorship programs. Who missed the January 9, 2024 edition? You don’t have to raise your hand…it’s linked here!
Flexible work. The MIT Sloan article below helps companies prepare for work-from-home regulations that are likely to emerge supporting flexible workers.
Anti-discrimination efforts to fix the “broken rung.” The Harvard Business Review article below outlines steps companies can take to bring greater equity to the performance review process to help level the playing field for promotions.
🔗 Work from Home Regulations Are Coming. Companies Aren’t Ready. 🔗
While the U.S. hasn’t enacted legislation around flexible work arrangement, the international world has begun to do so. Multi-national nonprofits must be sure to stay abreast of various country’s definitions of and regulatory requirements around telework, work from home, and remote work as legal action connected with various legislative initiatives is also growing. US-based employers can stay ahead of the curve by understanding emerging legislative trends and their implications for nonprofit operations detailed in this MIT Sloan article:
Spain requires a written agreement for all teleworking employees that includes the worker’s detailed schedule, place of work, and how the company will monitor their work-related activities.
Germany is finalizing legislation that requires an extension of work accident insurance to cover the home offices of employees and the implementation of a recording system to ensure that employees don’t work beyond a maximum number of hours.
Columbia requires the employer to provide the equipment needed for telework unless there is a written agreement in place that the employee will provide it.
Peru now requires written notice at least 10 days in advance for an employer to require a teleworking employee to begin working on-site or vice versa.
Both the European Union and Latin American countries are beginning to implement “Right to Disconnect” legislation which formalizes employees’ rights to disengage from work and refrain from work-related electronic communications during non-work hours.
🔗 6 Ways to Make Performance reviews More Fair 🔗
Because the criteria for evaluation are so often vague and open-ended, this Harvard Business Review article offers a roadmap for creating more equitable assessment frameworks, essential for nurturing a diverse and inclusive workforce:
Increase inter-rater reliability by conducting practice scenarios with groups of managers assessing the same employee file and discussing what might be driving higher or lower ratings by various group members. Reflect on questions like:
How and when does this employee contribute? Are their contributions valuable?
What was their output compared with what they were asked to deliver?
What specific data and observations justify your assessment?
Would you have given the same feedback if the employee had been a person of a different color and/or a different gender?
Contextualize women’s absences. Across a 30+ year career of “above average” or “outstanding ratings,” a friend of mine has received “average” ratings only three years: the year her first child was born, the year her second child was born, and the year she underwent treatment for breast cancer. Let that sink in. To help minimize “absence bias,” consider these questions when drafting reviews:
Was an employee’s absence due to a personal problem? If so, what did you do to help them find a solution?
When employees were online and working, how did you feel about their performance and contribution?
If you had interacted in person with this employee, how might your assessment have been different? In other words, how much has working remotely affected not only them but also you?
Use calibration committees to help ensure standardized scores across an organization.
Focus on in-group belonging to decrease unintentional bias against an employee that may be in your “out-group” by encouraging managers to find something in common with the person they are rating.
Keep a journal. HBR recommends the employee maintain a journal to inform a self-assessment and help their manager avoid the recency bias (rating on what you’ve done most recently). I would add to that for managers to do the same. Maintaining ongoing notes with each check-in a manager has with their employee not only helps to balance all the spinning plates, it’s a great compilation for a manager to read through prior to drafting an evaluation to do their part in reducing their own recency bias.
Review your job description. HBR recommends the employee create a context anchor by reviewing their job description in an effort to avoid under-rating themselves in a self-assessment. Similar to check-in notes, doing this review may help managers reduce their bias as well.
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, let us commit to championing gender equality and fostering environments where all individuals can thrive. Together, we can pave the way for a future where women’s contributions are recognized, valued, and celebrated beyond the month of March.
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