A simple statement from one of the survey respondents that beautifully captures the essence of the ‘ ownership ’ dimension states:
“ All our roles should be to hire the best people, train them and give them tools to succeed, and hold them accountable. This is work, not a social experiment. ”
1.2. Ownership and Gender
Despite being the majority, what limits non-male leaders in the industry to create better ownership for DEI? Are gender stereotypes and imposter syndrome (i.e., doubting one’s abilities and feeling like a fraud at work, more often experienced by the female gender)(10) prohibiting DEI transformation in the industry? Despite a large female population in the industry, on average women rated their overall DEI experience lower than their male counterparts, which warrants attention and leads to these questions: To further understand the impact of Gender on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, an overall analysis of gender as a demographic revealed interesting data trends. Research has often attributed the dramatic underrepresentation of women in leadership positions to the challenge of balancing home and work. However, recent work with a global consulting firm looked at detailed data to highlight an alternate perspective. Women weren’t being held back because of trouble balancing work and family; men, too, suffered from that problem and nevertheless advanced. Women were held back because they were encouraged to take accommodations, such as going part-time and shifting to internally facing roles, which derailed their careers (11). The research concludes that the real culprit in women’s stalled advancement, is a general culture of overwork that hurts both sexes and limits gender equality. A critical takeaway from this research for the EIC-DEI study is to reflect and review current work practices and policies for gender inclusivity in the events industry. Member organisations should be encouraged to examine the gender consequences of existing work practices that may reinforce biases about men’s ready fitness for work and women’s for family life. Correlating ‘ownership’ to other dimensions (as shown in Figure 1c) highlights that the female population is least satisfied with the dimension of ‘Delivering Change’ for DEI in the industry. This indicates a significant problem, which if not addressed can lead to a negative disruption for DEI in the industry. This will be further explored in the dimension of ‘Delivering Change’.
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2022 EIC Equity Benchmarking Study
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