The latest “collective wisdom” of senior supply chain leaders on the topic of moving women’s leadership forward has been compiled in a new AWESOME Action Agenda. Seven Smart Moves for Making Bigger Waves for Women’s Leadership will be released at CSCMP EDGE on September 15-18 in Anaheim.
The report acknowledges that “Throughout the spectrum of all professions and industries that have typically been led by men, progress is still slow.” Some of the statistics that support that conclusion include:
- In the supply chain field, the 2019 AWESOME/Gartner Women in Supply Chain Research showed a slight increase in the percentage of women at the VP level of supply chain leadership, but a decrease in the number of women at the SVP, EVP and C-suite levels.
- Across the board: A Pew Research Center report says that among Fortune 500 companies, the number of women CEOs has actually declined, and women still account for only 22.2 percent of board members of Fortune 500 companies.
- In the legal profession, women are 45 percent of associates but only 22.7 percent of partners and 19 percent of equity partners.
- 25% of global businesses still have no women in senior management roles.
Based on brainstorming sessions held among participants of the 2019 AWESOME Symposium, leaders have the ability and the responsibility to make change happen if they take steps that are likely to have the greatest impact. The discussions focused on areas where leaders can focus their efforts and reach up, reach out, reach in, reach back, and reach across. The report identifies seven ways to make waves and make a difference.
Following the initial release at CSCMP EDGE, the report will be available on the AWESOME website.