What does it mean that Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient responsible for founding the microfinance institution Grameen Bank, has empowered the world’s poorest women with working capital, savings accounts and insurance coverage for their small businesses?
For two-thirds of the world population, there is no such thing as an accessible financial institution. The concept of microcredit is undeniably powerful, but is all the more uplifting when we take into account that women have significantly better rates of debt repayment than men. With women bearing more than 96 percent of the bank’s non-collateral loans and repaying debts at a rate of more than 99 percent, the decision by Grameen Bank is not merely a humanitarian effort — it’s good business.
We see this rising trend of women’s leadership in business just as much in the first world. In fact, there are a record 21 women CEOs in the Fortune 500, and another 21 in the Fortune 1000. This is quite remarkable when coupled with the fact that the number of female-owned businesses has increased by 54 percent in the past 15 years, highlighting the new presence of women’s achievement in the workplace.
Historically, despite the fact that women belong to the majority of the world’s population, formal and informal barriers to opportunity have often grouped women in a larger demographic of racial, religious and gender inequality. But this is the 21st century. The workforce in the United States is now divided equally among men and women, and in the 2008 recession, women retained their jobs more than men.
With the advent of the post-industrial era, the role of women in the workplace has changed drastically, and so too has the contemporary family structure. We take for granted the commodification of household goods on the open market, and while the notion may seem removed from the current day, this one particular factor played an enormous role in relocating female labor toward the marketplace and formal education.
During the Great Depression, our country experienced a transition from agriculture to manufacturing. Today, compared to 60 years ago, there has been a decline in manufacturing from one-third to one-tenth of the workforce. Still recovering from the recession, as the demand for labor continues to shift to a knowledge-based economy, this means the opportunities for women to be at the forefront of services will only expand with time.
KPMG, the Big Four accounting firm and a top recruiter in the School of Management, is a prime example of initiatives to attract and retain qualified women as part of the business’ strategic diversity imperative, both in thought and culture. In 2003, KPGM established its Women’s Advisory Board, improving the quality of life in the personal and professional advancement of women through benefits that expand work/life flexibility, family planning and parental leave, among other valuable programs and resources. They are leading the way in women’s advancement in the corporate culture.
Even as telecommuting and its subsequent work-at-home policy comes under attack from Yahoo!’s CEO Marisa Mayer (she herself a mother), there is little reason to be alarmed on the macro level. It is truly the few serial innovators, firms like Google and Apple, which are taking such a drastic in-office collaborative approach to keeping competitive in Silicon Valley. And while it is widely believed that this policy disproportionately affects women, it turns out the average telecommuter is actually a 40-year-old man.
More than a month removed from International Women’s Day, I would like to remind our readers that as students, upcoming professionals and future parents, those who promote women in business are not only performing a public service but are aligning themselves on the winning side of history. This is a cause we should all aspire to around the world, as well as right here in Binghamton.