Global Women's Leadership Network - Pink Paper

ISSUE #2: CONFRONT EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT GENDER BIAS GWLN members described numerous ways in which gender discrimination still exists in credit unions. For example, 41% of those surveyed cited “women are held to higher standards than men when considered for a promotion or nomination” as a major reason holding them back from advancing in their credit union. Many interviewees shared their perception that women in leadership positions still require greater effort to establish and maintain their credibility due to normative social and cultural expectations about men’s leadership. Establishing trustworthiness, skill, and authority appears to be a tougher challenge for women. Their entrance into the ranks of board members and executives may still be relatively uncommon compared to men. “The challenge of getting the respect at the table is the hardest thing to overcome” said one leader. Women across the globe report battling entrenched social and cultural scripts – both explicit and implicit – that both assume men’s leadership and associate women with certain qualities. As one CEO put it, “sometimes people feel they can get away with a little more because women are more compassionate and empathetic.” GWLN members reported encountering challenges to their credibility, from people second-guessing their decisions to expressing uncertainty of their authority. WHAT CREDIT UNIONS CAN DO TO CONFRONT EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT BIAS #1: Actively invest in, promote, and champion women and other diverse leaders GWLN members say that credit unions must invest in, promote, and celebrate women and other diverse groups to erode centuries-old social scripts about leadership. They must take an intersectional approach, which means having leadership that is diverse in terms of gender, race, class, education level, ability, and other social categories. Credit unions can foster diverse leadership by intentionally setting human resource strategies that specifically prioritize diversity and women’s advancement. They can also feature the achievements of women and other diverse leaders in onboarding trainings, annual meetings, and outreach events. Credit unions can also introduce GWLN as a primary resource on women’s leadership to new staff. #2: Map membership base and set leadership diversity targets that mirror membership GWLN members recommend that the leadership of credit unions needs to mirror the diversity of their membership. This requires setting targets for diversity on boards and within executive leadership that mirrors credit unions’ membership. To understand their members’ demographic profiles, credit unions can conduct annual surveys and analyze utilization of member services and social media. GWLN members suggest that credit unions set targets for parallel diversity in leadership, which will help them plan and operate in ways that more accurately reflect their members and their needs. 2021 GWLN Pink Paper | 13 SHOWCASE WOMEN LEADERS In one credit union, men created an e- book to tell the stories of women who inspire them. GWLN AND ONBOARDING Credit unions can introduce GWLN in their onboarding materials for all new employees. This provides them with information on how to engage and access services while demonstrating the organization’s interest in women’s leadership. “Today, we have to work even harder because it’s still about acceptance.” “You can’t lead any differently just because you’re female.”