Female Executives in the Age of JEDI.

• Author: Harris, Omer L.
• Position: BUSINESS & FINANCE

Are justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion the new bywords for Corporate America? THE PANDEMIC has led to a variety of setbacks and challenges for corporations thanks to employee burnout and staffing shortages--with women quitting their jobs at an even faster pace than men. So, let's take a closer look at what is happening, the challenges, and ways to increase the demand for female executives.

White men make up 35% of the U.S. population, yet hold 85.8% of the Fortune 500 CEO positions. White women make up 6.8% of Fortune 500 CEOs. One percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are African-Americans, 2.4% are East Asians or South Asians, and 3.4% are Hispanic.

The 2021 "Women in the Workplace" report from McKinsey and Co. states that "women continue to face a 'broken rung' at the first step up to manager: for every 100 men promoted to manager, only 86 women are promoted. As a result, men significantly outnumber women at the manager level, which means there are far fewer women to promote to higher levels. The broken rung likely explains why representation of women at the senior manager, director, and VP levels has improved more slowly than the pipeline overall."

An over-correction versus a balanced approach to this problem is needed because corporations have been unbalanced for decades. There never has been "equal pay for equal work" and females--especially women of color--have less leadership opportunities than their male counterparts. In 2021, women earned 88% of what men earned in managerial positions.

"The one thing that I wish was more front and center is how we support young-family workers and enable young women to create families and engage in their work," said former PepsiCo CEO India Nooyi in a New York Times interview. In a Fortune interview, she said that "one of the biggest emerging-market opportunities we have in the U.S. is women. All of us have to worry about why the pipeline is broken beyond the entry level."

Because of what I term JEDI issues--justice, equity, diversity, inclusion--a major shift is needed in Corporate America's approach to women.

* Justice. Sexual harassers and abusers do not lose their jobs in a majority of instances, as most incidents are not being reported or investigated. Some 38% of women have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, maintains a Stop Street Harassment study.

* Equity. There is no uniform U.S. policy for maternity leave. The "Women in the Workplace" study states that "42% of women who...