DEBUNKING THE MYTHS

We are still in the women's month and there is so much dialogue going on regarding female representation and career advancement. Have you ever heard that women don't aspire for leadership positions because of the home front? Hmmm, is this a myth? Well may be or maybe not. Let's talk about this career matter.

As an HR Leader and custodian of corporate talent, I can submit that a key achievement recorded by Nigerian women in recent time is in the area of breaking the proverbial glass ceiling into the top corporate C-suite roles. Nigerian women have made good progress in this area with the notable appointments of females recorded in private & public sectors as well as on the global landscape into roles which typically men have occupied, this certainly gives a fair sense of progress. 

We now have Nigerian women in roles with regional & continent oversight example in the financial services industry, the appointments of women like Sola David Borha - CEO Africa Regions Standard Bank, Bola Adesola Snr VP Africa Standard Chartered Bank and Ibukun Awosika - Chairman First Bank all validate this submission. This notwithstanding, without a doubt, there is yet a long way to go on the subject of improved female representation at the top. 

The subject of gender equality and equal opportunities for men and women in society requires a multiple stakeholder commitment. All stakeholders need to come on board to improve our gender development index as a nation. Nigeria has been ranked 133 out of 149 countries in the Global Gender Gap Indices for the current year.

Whilst many Organisations in Nigeria have risen to this call by signing on to several initiatives such as the United Nations HeforShe movement, a lot more still need to stand to be counted. There is also an opportunity for the government to further drive this mandate through policy making and integration of gender diversity metrics into the political and socio-economic fabric of the nation.

I get the sense we will keep making progress on this matter so ladies, let's keep pushing, these are exciting times to be female!

#eachforeaqual

#Careermatters