Equity advances women leadership but gender pay gap persists
Dr James Mwangi, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO.
What you need to know:
- A sustainability report found that a third of senior managers are women, which is a 3.2 per cent increase, while women in middle-level management form 27.4 per cent, a 1.7 per cent increase.
- Equity linked the progress to leveraging the power of diversity within their portfolio of countries and building into their recruitment and development processes the desired diversity agendas.
Women's leadership at Equity Group's middle and senior levels has expanded within the past year, a new report has revealed.
Equity's sustainability report found that a third of its senior managers are women, which is a 3.2 per cent increase, while women in middle-level management form 27.4 per cent, a 1.7 per cent increase.
"The group has set a target of 41.7 per cent of women senior management by December 2024."
Compared to global standards, the financial institution has made significant strides in promoting gender diversity and increasing women's leadership.
A global study by the IBM Institute for Business Value and Oxford Economics released in March found that the women's leadership pipeline is hollowing out. Globally, women's representation at C-suite stood at 12 per cent but with only 11 per cent in Kenya.
Boards
Additionally, only 10 per cent of women sat at Board levels in Kenya, in comparison to the global representation of 12 per cent.
Across six Equity Board committees, which oversee key functions across the organisation, women's representation stands at 48 per cent.
"The group considers diversity as a strategic imperative providing an expanse of skills, knowledge, experience, and backgrounds that enriches the team."
Power of diversity
Equity linked the progress to leveraging the power of diversity within their portfolio of countries and building into their recruitment and development processes the desired diversity agendas, especially on gender, race, and languages amongst other elements.
They have also implemented various training and leadership programmes focused on empowering women, especially those in management roles. Leveraging existing platforms, such as the 'Equip' leadership programme, the Group has established initiatives like the women's book club and conducted virtual training sessions.
Pay gap
Despite this progress, the gender pay gap has persisted within Equity Group, with Kenyan and Tanzanian women experiencing the biggest disparity, earning 52 per cent less than their male counterparts for similar work done.
To remedy this, the financial institution has committed to monitoring pay parity across all countries for improvement.
"The group also requires subsidiaries to conduct ongoing salary reviews to track the progress being made to address these pay gaps."
