The Key to Accelerated Progress? Gender Equality

iSAW International provokes a call to arms for senior executives worldwide as it exposes new insights in the links between gender equality and ESG in its recent report

A new report from iSAW, international Strategic Accelerator for Women, has found that gender equality is a key catalyst for the acceleration of organizational Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments, a connection that holds the potential to at once dramatically improve the conditions of women across the world while also providing a way forward for organizations grappling with how to embed ESG in their business structures and plans. 

Developed in partnership with the University of Arizona, W.A. Franke Honors College and advisory firm Ascent Growth Partners Pte, the report—titled Gender Equality: A Catalyst for Accelerating ESG and Beyond—found that gender equality is not simply a factor in ESG but rather a key component and catalyst for its acceleration, and that gender equality can drive better business outcomes. It also found that women are not just one factor within the ESG framework, but rather are at the centre of ESG acceleration, since they have both the power to impact its growth and accelerated adoption and at the same time are also significantly impacted by ESG commitments and policies. 

“ESG doesn't happen without gender. With this report, we want to raise the conversation in this really powerful way to show that it's about business outcomes,” says iSAW Founder and CEO Nancy Speidel. “People are just starting to talk about ESG and gender but they don’t have anything tangible. This report is going to give them something to really talk about, and something to point to to say we need more women, we need to do this right.” 

Even before the report was developed, it was clear to iSAW that the status quo approach to achieving gender equality isn’t working. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Gender Gap Report predicted that at the current rate, it will take 132 years to achieve gender equality globally. The figure takes into account four indicators of gender equality progress: almost at  parity in health and survival, 22 years to parity in education attainment, 155 years to parity in politics, and—the key indicator for the report—151 years to attain gender parity in economic participation.

The report used both a research approach and what iSAW describes as a “visionary foresight-based approach,” not only presenting the research data but also taking a position intended to shrink the existing economic gender equality gap at a far faster rate than current timelines—from 151 years to about 20. 

“If we don’t do something to address these timelines now, it isn’t just more of the same—we’ll in fact see worse than the same. If we don’t move the dial forward faster, we’re going to move backward on so many issues,” says Speidel.

The research was conducted with a focus on working women—defined as woman-identifying people employed outside the home or who are self-employed—and to determine how ESG could be leveraged to accelerate gender equality and how gender equality could impact both ESG and business performance. Identifying gender equality as a key lever to improve business outcomes and sustainability was intentional, notes Martin Elliot, iSAW Chief Strategy Officer. 

“We started to look at some of those outcomes that businesses care about and considered how they could be used as a conduit for gender equality,” says Elliot. 

While the moral imperative behind embracing gender equality and enhanced ESG outcomes is self-evident, the evidence shows that simply appealing to the moral value isn’t enough to spur corporations to action. Rather, the report intentionally makes a case for change that is centered on business value and not merely social responsibility.

“Too often issues affecting women are reduced to a tick-the-box exercise or just lip service, but to get the attention of businesses, we have to demonstrate that with gender equality, they win — and if they don’t do this, they lose,” adds Speidel. “When it comes to profitability, bottom line, innovation, competitive markets, that's when they're going to act.”

There’s no doubt progress is being made, but the pace is still too slow to achieve impactful change. As the report notes, most companies still view gender equality as a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative rather than a strategic business imperative. The current approach among corporations typically falls under a few common categories: one-off initiatives to improve gender diversity and equality, limited investments that target only top performers or annual campaigns such as International Women’s Day, and specific policies that address a subset of women’s needs. While they’re all positive efforts, these types of actions alone won’t bring change fast enough to achieve iSAW’s goal of achieving gender equality in the next 20 years.

To accelerate progress, organizations need to move beyond the status quo, embracing an ambitious agenda that challenges existing structures and systems. 

“If we don't start to look at it below the surface, at the real drivers of change, which happens through different forms of governance, through innovations in decision-making, through management innovation, we’re missing a lot of opportunity here, both for women and men and ultimately for organizations. That's really the message,” says Saar Ben-Attar, Founder at Ascent Growth Partners.

The report outlines that much of the power for progress lies in the ‘G’ — governance, which holds the potential for the most dominant virtuous relationship with gender equality. Governance is where decisions are made, policies are set, and budgets are approved, Speidel notes. And when women are present in senior executive and board positions, they have more influence over key decisions, internal systems of control and governance activities. When there is gender balance at the top, the culture throughout an organization in turn positively impacts decisions across the wider ESG framework, like setting new environmental standards.  

It became clear to the team behind the report that without meaningfully addressing women’s economic participation, progress on the major societal challenges of our time would be at best incremental. That’s why the connection between gender equality and accelerated ESG outcomes is so important. 

“Through gender equality in the workplace, we can also drive progress on issues like climate change, the growing wealth gap, environmental degradation and resource scarcity, social inequality and geopolitical tensions, according to the report’s findings,” Speidel adds. “It’s a ripple effect with far-reaching benefits.”

Ultimately, for meaningful progress on ESG commitments, women not only need to be part of the equation — they need to be present in all facets of the conversation, because gender equality is inextricably linked to all aspects of the ESG framework. For iSAW, that means women need to be centered, with gender equality being the key catalyst for progress on all things ESG. With that comes an understanding that progress for women doesn’t just fall under the ‘S’ in ESG — they underpin each aspect of the framework.

“We cannot stay stagnant—not at this time and where we are in the world,” says Speidel. “So what is the easiest lever we have? Elevate the 50 per cent of the people that can actually help solve the problem in a different way.”