The New York Times - 19.09.2019

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”

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