F4 NY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019
THEWARFORWAGEEQUALITYcontinues,andit’slikelytobealongone.
Itwilltake202yearstoerasetheeconomicgapbetweenmenand
womenrelatedtoworkforce,wagesandmanagement-levelpositions
held,accordingtotheWorldEconomicForum’s“GlobalGenderGap
Report2018.”IntheUnitedStates,womentakehomejust82cents
foreverydollarmenmake.Andworldwide,womenholdonlyabout
athirdofleadershippositions.
Atmajorcompaniesandsmallstartups,genderpaygapsoftengo
unreported.Earlierthisyear,Citigroupanalyzeditsunadjusted“raw”
paygapnumbers,whichmeasuresthedifferenceinmediantotal
compensationwhenwedon’tadjustforfactorssuchasjobfunction,
levelandgeography.Theresults?Themedianpayforwomen
globallyis71percentofthatformen.Citi—helpedbyleaderssuch
asJaneFraser,thechiefexecutiveofCitigroupLatinAmerica—has
alreadymadebigchanges,withmoremilestonesintheworks.
Hereareprofilesofthreewomen,includingFraser,whoareworking
toclosethegendergapandpromoteeconomicequalityaround
theglobe.Ifwealljoinforcesandfightforchangeliketheyhave,
togetherwecanalterthestatusquo,improvebusinessonaglobal
scaleanderasethateconomicgapfarsoonerthanexpected.
WHENTHEBRITISHLABOURPARTY’S
HARRIETHARMANwasfirstelected
toParliamentin1982,shewas32and
pregnantwithherfirstchild.Today
sheisthelongest-evercontinuously
servingfemalememberofParliament,
andshehasfoughtforwomen’sequal
payandrepresentationfornearly
fourdecades.
“Inevergottheideathatmenwere
moreimportantthanwomen,”Harman
says.“Iremembermymothersayingto
me:‘Youknow,mostpeoplethinkthat
ifamansayssomething,it’smorelikely
tobetrueandmoreimportantthan
whatawomansays.ButIdon’tbelieve
that.’Shewassaying,‘Thisisthe
prevailingview,butthat’snotright.’”
Thewomen’smovementhad
strengthenedHarman’sbeliefin
genderequality.“Wesaid,‘We’renot
inferior,we’reequals,andwhyin
theworldshouldwebeunequal?We’ll
justhavetochangeit,’”Harman
says.“Thefactthatthepatriarchy
permeatedeverything,that’swhat
madeitthemostenormously
challengingtask.Butwewerenot
daunted.”
InherroleasamemberofParliament
in2010,Harmanhelpeddraftthe
game-changingEqualityAct,which
mandatedthatcompaniesbe
Harriet
Harman
A Force for
Equality in Britain
transparentaboutsalaries,exposing
thegenderwagegap.“Itwasavery
fundamentalthing,”shesays.“Do
wethinkmenareworthmorethan
women?No,wedon’t.Andifwedon’t,
whatarewegoingtodoaboutit?”
Thebattlerageson.Harman
acknowledgesthattransparencyin
wagesandhiringpracticescandoonly
somuchwithoutpunitivemeasures
suchaslevyingfinesortaxpenalties
againstbusinessesnotmaking
progresstowardclosingthegap.
YetHarmanremainshopeful.“Weare
makingprogress,becauseit’sright,in
principle,”shesays.“Acompanythat
says,‘Yes,we’vegotabigpaygap,
we’rediscriminating,andwe’regoing
tocarryondoingthat,’that’sjust
notrespectableanymore.”
“Do we think men are worth
more than women? No we don’t.”
These
Gender Equality
Trailblazers
are Fighting to
Close the Pay Gap.
JANEFRASER,THEC.E.O.OF
CITIGROUPLATINAMERICA,has
becomeanexpertatuncomfortable
conversations.“It’sonlywhen
youbegintohavethathonest
conversation,”Frasersays,“andyou
trytogetthemoraloutrageoutof
yourtone,andyoustartlisteningand
debatinganddiscussing,thatyoucan
haverealchange.”
Thoseawkwardexchanges,Fraserhas
learned,arevital.“Thenyoucanhave
thetoughconversationaround,‘No,
theworldhasn’tgoneanti-male,andI
don’twanttogetajoborapromotion
justbecauseI’mawoman,butIdon’t
wanttohavetowork20percent
hardertogetit,either,”shesays.“‘Ijust
wantittobefair.’”
Over16yearsatCiti,Fraserhas
helpedimproveitsculture,both
asawomaninahigh-levelleadership
positionandasco-chairoftheCiti
women’saffinitygroup.Andwhen
itcametoCiti’sgoingpublicwithits
paygap,shehadfewdoubtsabout
whatwastherightdecision.“Wesaid,
‘O.K.,unlesswemakethatpublicand
uncomfortable,we’renotgoingto
havethesamedrivetochangeit,’”
Frasersays.
Disclosingtheunadjusted“raw”pay
gapnumbersisapositivefirststep
towardgenderequality,shesays.But
there’sfarmoretoit.“It’saboutmaking
sureyou’rereallycreatingaculturethat
encouragesandsupportsdiversity.”
Fairandinclusivehiringattheentry
leveliskey,Frasersays;thatway,a
diversemixofcandidateswillbein
placeandreadytofillseniorlevel
positionslater.Anothernecessary
step:in-housebiastrainingto
increaseawareness,which,likeradical
transparency,isanimportantcatalyst
forchange.“Oneofmybig‘aha’
moments,”Frasersays,“wasdiscovering
thateveryonehasbiases.”
Asoneofthetopbusinesswomeninthe
world,Fraseralsorecognizesthebottom-
linebenefitsthatcomewithdiversity
andgenderequality.“Ifateamisallthe
same,they’renotasinnovative,”she
says.“Whereasifyouhavemorediversity
ofthought,ofbackground,ofpointof
view,ofexperience,youwillbemore
effective.Diversitywilldriveyouto
abetterproduct,betterservicesand
betterdecision-making.”
Evenmorechangesareintheworks
fromCiti,Frasersays,andthat’sa
greatthing.“Radicaltransparency
certainlymakesyouuncomfortable,
butit’simportanttogetoutofthe
oldhabits,”shesays.“You’vegotto
shakeyourthinkingupanddo
somethingdifferently,andthat’s
whyitmakesadifference.”
Jane
Fraser
Changing
Corporate
Culture From
Within
“Diversity will drive you to a
better product, better services
and better decision making”
PAID FOR AND POSTED BY