International Women’s Day

The day commemorates the achievements of women worldwide and brings awareness to political and social struggles of women with the goal that things will change for the better in the future.

Over the past few decades, women around the world have made remarkable strides in entering the workforce and their wealth is rising. In the Caribbean, women are very influential in government as many have attained positions of power and high responsibility, with The Bahamas, Grenada and Saint Lucia all having female Heads of State at present.

But sadly, more than a decade of data has revealed that progress is still too slow for realising the full potential of women globally within our lifetimes. In the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Gender Gap Report 2016 which measures the relative gaps between women and men across four key areas: health, education, economy and politics, the data showed only two regions—Western Europe and North America—have a remaining gender gap of less than 30 percent, at 25 percent and 28 percent, respectively. Latin America and the Caribbean and Eastern Europe and Central Asia are virtually tied at a remaining gender gap of exactly 30 percent each.

The research shows the gaps between women and men on economic participation and political empowerment remain wide. According to the report, at the current rate of change, and given the widening economic gender gap since last year, it will not be closed for another 170 years. In the Caribbean, Barbados (28 percent) remains among the best-performing countries in the region and the world on closing the Economic Opportunity gender gap, achieving parity at the level of female legislators, senior officials and managers. It continues to take the top rank among the Caribbean nations, followed by the Bahamas (37 percent) and Trinidad and Tobago (44 percent), which share similar profiles. Notably, Jamaica and Barbados have reached gender parity in senior roles, with Jamaica (42 percent) continuing to improve on Political Empowerment with an increased share of women in parliament.

Many girls across the Caribbean and Latin America now have better access to education.

According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, access to secondary and tertiary education increased in 2015. In fact, for years, there’s been a steady 70-30 ratio in favour of women at the University of the West Indies, a public university system serving 18 Caribbean countries and territories.

Positively, of the 144 countries the research measured – more than 95 percent of the gap in educational attainment, an improvement of almost one full percentage point since last year and the highest value ever measured by the Index. Women with higher levels of education also show higher rates of economic participation. The progressive developments in learning and employment could act as drivers for improving gender diversity, as well as social mobility, in the Caribbean and around the world.

But despite this success, inequality is still present in many countries. Today’s organisations cannot afford to sit still on this issue and have a responsibility to do more to speed this up.

Strategically, it should be on their radars.

According to the EY women in industry 2016 report, future growth will increasingly come from women. By 2020, nearly a billion women will have the potential to enter the global economy for the first time.

Business and finance is an industry in desperate need for more gender equality.

There’s disproportionate number of leadership roles are currently being held by male employees around the world. But evidence is clear on how much businesses are losing out on this state of affairs. In 2016, the Peterson Institute for International Economics reported that 30 percent female representation on boards could add up to six percentage points to its net margin.

Talent management is a top priority for businesses, which must ensure that they have the right staff to carry out their business effectively. Achieving greater gender diversity in teams will not only improve firm’s talent pools but also help to future proof organisations.

Finance professionals are crucial to steering businesses towards successful futures. After all accounting is the backbone of the business financial world. Through contributing to discussions about economic growth, managing finances and promoting good financial management, they enable leadership teams successfully navigate businesses through tough times ahead and take advantage of circumstances Right now, ACCA has 480,000 students around the world studying hard to become professional accountants. Currently 54 percent of them are female, a percentage that is growing year-on-year.

These finance professionals will be a part of the growing number women in the workforce.

The strength of the qualification and their dedication to pursuing finance careers is not only a step in the right direction towards gender equality, but also a necessity in providing professional accountants the world needs.

ACCA was established in 1904 specifically to open up access to accountancy and that ethos has been spread to over 178 countries.

Although more women are joining the accountancy profession, there is more work to do if we are to turn a corner, but now could be the perfect time. ACCA and the accountancy profession itself, is certainly leading the way.

In celebration of International Women’s Day ACCA Caribbean will host a women’s’ conference on Wednesday, March 8 at the Hyatt Regency. The programme will include presentations and panel discussions intended to inspire solution oriented dialogue around the theme ‘Be Bold For Change’ and will feature presentations by Christine Sahadeo, ACCA member, senior lecturer/deputy dean at the University of the West Indies, Racquel Moses, ACCA portfolio head, Europe and Americas, Stacy-Ann Golding, ACCA member, partner, Audit, KPMG Trinidad and Tobago, Akosua Dardaine Edwards, author, speaker, entrepreneur and Carole Eleuthere- Jn Marie, ACCA member, interim CEO, First Citizens Bank, Barbados.