A recurring theme for me in the quest for gender parity is seeing big announcements that have everyone cheering but leave me feeling empty and uninspired. Some of the announcements are about the records women are breaking, but what I see is how much progress we still have to make. There are pronouncements about women on boards that seem laudable but then have an easy out. It all leaves me feeling a bit...meh.

The announcement by Goldman Sachs last year stating that they would only take companies public if they had one diverse person on the board was the first of many hyped announcements that were cheered far and wide. It was lauded as a huge step towards diversity, but I think it sets a very low bar. Baby steps.

Prior to the Olympics, Adam Grant wrote about the comment from the leader of the Olympic Organizing Committee who mentioned how “annoying” it is that women talk too much in meetings. Grant continues on about the injustices women face in speaking up at work, which we women know all too well. It was a fantastic article, except that the solution he provided for this deeply chauvinistic behavior was for men to recognize that it is an issue. That’s it? That’s the big solution? Sure, recognition of a problem is necessary and a great first step, but it is a baby step and not nearly enough.

We see study after study that gender inequality is improving, just at a stunningly slow rate. Executive pay for women is improving, just not a lot. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020, it will take another 100 years to achieve gender equality based on the current rate of progress. Worse, data from the World Economic Forum finds that at the current rates of change, the global gender pay gap will close in 257 years. This data shows that economic parity was worse than the previous year, and no doubt, after the pandemic will be even worse. The newly released VC Human Capital report once again shows small gains for women and even smaller gains for People of Color. Just this month, a new report stating that a record number of women are now running global 500 businesses was another we all got to cheer. Many were touting this as progress, but it left me feeling hollow. When a record number of businesses being run by women is 23 (TWENTY-THREE!!) out of 500, is that really something to celebrate or does it do more harm to celebrate these successes when they are so paltry? 

And finally, last month the SEC approved NASDAQ’s new diversity rule for board members. Again, it seems that those that advocate for diversity are cheering this rule, which I really want to do too, except there is a major out. Companies that don’t have diverse board members must be able to explain in writing why they don’t. There will be many excuses given, mostly having to do with why so many board members are white men from the VCs that invested in them and why they can’t just step off. Will NASDAQ’s new rule cause VC’s to make better choices for board members in the earlier stages of their companies? Or will they just “explain in writing” why they couldn’t make that happen? If they are able to get away with the latter, then it is less than baby steps, but a leap backwards. And really is there any viable reason to NOT have a diverse board?

Bold efforts can make significant changes. Take for example California’s law mandating 20% of board makeup had to be female. When the law went into effect, 29% of CA-based companies had all-male boards. After 18 months when the deadline for female board members went into effect, only 4% of these companies had all-male boards. These bold steps (and admittedly not without controversy) are making a difference.

Take Action

What other big, bold grown-up steps can be taken? Here are some suggestions:

• Don’t just recognize a problem (what does that look like anyway?), call it out. When you hear women in your meeting being interrupted and talked over, stop it in real time.

• Learn about sexist behavior women in business have to endure, recognize it, and then stop it. 

• Assess your personal biases and make sure you question your assumptions and “feelings” about a person regularly.

• Be vocal so large, powerful organizations like Goldman Sachs and NASDAQ demand much higher standards from the companies they work with. 

• For companies that you are involved with or have influence over, help them create a plan to have a 50/50 diverse board within five years that has repercussions if the metrics aren’t met. 

• Tell your elected officials to pass laws requiring diversity. Governments and enterprises can fund significant diversity efforts. 

• If you are investing in venture, make sure you only invest in funds that have female partners and a diversity plan. Don’t invest your money if they don’t. 

• If you can invest, do it directly in women-led companies.

• And of course, support the women leaders around you by openly advocating for them. 

Ultimately, demand big, bold steps and don’t golf clap for the baby ones.