On International Women's Day 2019, Nuance Healthcare Chief Marketing Officer Brenda Hodge discusses how better gender balance across industries makes for a better economies and communities.
Today is International Women’s Day. The theme for International Women’s Day is #BalanceforBetter because a gender balanced world is a better world.
Balance is not a women’s issue, it’s a business issue. Gender balance is essential for economies and communities to thrive.
According to Fortune magazine, when a minimum of 30% of women are represented at the C-Suite level, profitability jumps by up to 15%. For economies and communities to thrive we need more gender balance in the boardroom, the government, our teams, and in Healthcare.
I work in Healthcare Information Technology and I care deeply about this industry. Healthcare as an industry represents one-sixth of the U.S. economy. According to Fast Company magazine:
- Women account for 80% of healthcare workers
- Women account for 50% of medical school applicants
But there’s a significant drop when you look at leadership:
- Only 11% of Healthcare CEOs are women
- There isn’t a single woman at the helm of a Fortune 500 Healthcare company
- None of the Healthcare companies in the Fortune 500 have gender parity on their boards or executive teams
- Just 9% of Health Tech companies are founded by women
- 30% of women physicians have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, while 33% of nurses have been subject to physical violence and bullying
- About half of female medical students report being harassed while still in school
Let’s make this not just an International Women’s Day, but International Women’s year and decade. Let’s build a gender-balanced world together. Time to act.
At the end of the day… is an expression meaning an assessment of essential facts and truths. It’s a summation of the pros and cons of any situation and a straightforward statement of what really matters. It’s also the title of this blog series by Brenda Hodge, Nuance Healthcare’s Chief Marketing Officer, with insights about leadership, empathetic customer relationships, and marketing techniques.
