It was a pleasure to join a Sustainability LIVE panel yesterday with Anisa Kamadoli Costa Andrea Debbane Sarah Mcdonald Shirley Robertson for a conversation on women in sustainability – and the importance of diversity and inclusion more widely.
Women have played a remarkable role in shaping the sustainability movement, with women leaders, innovators and coalition-builders driving progress in many fields, and the role of CSO providing a route for many more women to reach the C-Suite. But - in spite of this success - challenges remain.
In too many businesses, sustainability is still seen as ‘nice to have’ or ‘soft’, as a matter of responsibility and reputation rather than long term value, competitiveness and resilience. It doesn’t pay the best salaries, CSOs often aren’t invited in early enough to the most significant commercial decisions, and it is rarely a route to CEO roles.
And in spite of the prevalence of women leaders in sustainability, there is still bias in the domains in which they operate. Evidence shows that a significant minority of people still don’t think that women are suited senior roles. Worryingly, in the UK, a growing proportion of younger people think this. In the US, although women dominate the staffing and leadership of many NGOs, the bigger the NGO, the more likely it is to be led by a man. And women leaders are more likely to receive public criticism than their male counterparts.
What to do:
- Shift mindsets: from seeing sustainability as just a moral and reputational issue, to one of competitiveness; from seeing diversity and inclusion as compliance issues, to matters of fundamental rights - as well valuable sources of creativity and innovation.
- Acknowledge bias and address it: call it out and challenge it, design recruitment and promotion processes to correct for it, factor it into marketing campaigns to shift attitudes.
How can businesses support women to thrive? Give them the biggest opportunities, not the biggest problems to fix; give them visibility and platforms (and refuse to support all-male panels); provide mentoring, support networks and transparent promotion processes; support flexible working.
Advice for women building careers in sustainability? Focus on what you are really care about – you will need your passion to see you through the tough times. Build on what you are good at. Be clear what value you offer, to whom. Be visible, vocal and bold from the outset. Ask for the biggest, most visible assignments. Learn – and keep learning. Build allies to celebrate your successes and have your back during the tough times. Be prepared for difficulty and discomfort – driving real impact means challenging the status quo. Be courageous.
Thanks to colleagues for perspective and research links: Jie Zhou, Dr Nina Seega, Ursula Woodburn, Beverley Cornaby, Kayla Friedman, 🌏 Meredith O., James Cole, Laura Cochrane-Davies and to Bianca Pitt for leading change through SHE Changes Climate.
