Slowly but surely, women continue to take on more leadership roles. Although progress has been made over the last few years, the status quo continues to hold women back from leadership positions. According to research published by Grant Thornton International, globally, only 32.4% of senior leadership positions in mid-sized companies are held by women, an increase of half a percentage point since 2022 and 13 percentage points since the study was first conducted in 2004. The situation in Latin America is even more discouraging, where only 15% of board seats are held by women, and only 11% of companies have a female CEO (IDB).
At this rate, just 34% of senior leadership positions will be held by women in 2025. These low numbers will lead to significant business and economic missed opportunities, as several studies conducted over the past 15 years have shown that there is a direct relationship between having more women in management positions and higher returns on equity, higher profitability, lower incidence of fraud, and better risk management (Parallelle).
The panel Women in Power: Leadership that Transforms brought together four leaders to discuss the topic in greater depth: Marlene Molero Suárez, CEO and Co-founder of ELSA; Daniela Konietzko, President of the Fundación WWB Colombia; Luz Marina Velasquez, Vice President of Human Talent at Seguros SURA Colombia; and Ana Demel, President of the Board of Directors of Pro Mujer.
Ana Demel, who moderated the panel, quickly affirmed that facilitating women’s growth and leadership is a “win-win.” Increasing women’s active involvement in the labor force is a crucial driver of economic growth, but existing barriers continue to exacerbate gender gaps in employment and leadership.
Representing Fundación WWB Colombia, an organization that has been working for 40 years to close inequality gaps and promote the active participation of women in economic development, Daniela Konietzko shared her lessons learned with the audience, highlighting the impact of self-imposed barriers and imposter syndrome: “Sometimes we are our biggest barrier—the fear, thinking that I wasn’t going to make it, that I didn’t have the ability,” she said.
In addition to these self-imposed barriers, which are also the result of the current gender paradigm, women face systemic barriers that limit their well-being and impact their professional development.
Luz Marina Velasquez, Vice President of Human Talent at Seguros SURA Colombia, focused on a critical issue that impacts the lives of too many women: gender-based violence. This type of violence can take many forms, from sexual harassment in the workplace to domestic violence.
“At Grupo SURA, women make up 73% of the team, and there is a higher percentage of women in leadership roles. We use a socio-demographic assessment to understand how women are feeling, the status of their personal relationships, etc.,” she shared. “This process has highlighted the prevalence of issues like domestic violence, and we’ve seen how women often keep quiet about them. This perspective has been fundamental to note how women feel across all areas of their lives.”
Marlene Molero Suárez, CEO and Co-Founder of ELSA, a leading platform for preventing sexual harassment in the workplace and building safe spaces in organizations, emphasized workplace harassment and gender-based violence, as well as women’s role as caregivers.
“Violence can occur in non-work environments, but it directly affects women’s employment,” she said. “People cannot split themselves in two, and this is something that disproportionately impacts women, who are expected to take on both private and public responsibilities. Moreover, it’s important to remember that if women drop out of the labor market, it is generally because they are taking care of others. Studies have found that women of a certain age drop out of the workforce precisely at the age when they have small children or are thinking of having them.”
For her part, Ana Demel emphasized Claudia Goldin’s recent win of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics for her studies on the wage and labor participation gaps between women and men. Goldin’s research revealed that disproportionate care work burdens are a significant obstacle for women and emphasized the need for an equitable distribution of household and parenting tasks.
“The balance in terms of domestic and caregiving responsibilities isn’t there yet. [Women] are still expected to be perfect in all environments, managing and responding to demands from all aspects of our lives at the same time,” added Velasquez. “I think the biggest challenge is to break down stereotypes. Starting conversations and getting men to feel comfortable and confident in taking on that role of household caregiver and balancing the burden.”
It is clear that women have not yet managed to break the glass ceiling that keeps them out of decision-making positions. Although the economic justification for including women on boards and in leadership positions is conclusive, there are still many barriers to overcome.
“The problem of gender equity is not a women’s problem; it is a societal problem, and we have to attack it together,” proclaimed Daniela Konietzko in closing.
The GLI Forum LatAm sought to encourage the ecosystem to put on a gender lens and incorporate inclusion and diversity policies that support women in leadership positions and the adoption of an inclusive governance approach with a gender perspective. An inclusive board welcomes diverse ideas, makes good decisions, and strengthens the organizational culture.
