AS WE CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY this month, the under-representation of women within the highest levels of corporate leadership remains an enduring issue. Although women currently receive around 58 percent of the undergraduate degrees conferred by Canadian universities and make up about 56 percent of Canada’s finance industry employees, women fill just 17 percent of senior management roles and only 16 percent of corporate board seats. At the same time, just 20 percent of CFA Society Toronto members are female.

Despite the numerous initiatives, events, and training dollars that are devoted to the cause of gender equality, many organizations still don’t seem to have a firm grasp on precisely where in their talent pipeline they lose women, or why. However, a review of the research available on the subject suggests that, among the many contributing factors, there are two that seem to play a recurring role in preventing the professional advancement of women. They are:

Work-life Balance – Few organizations offer an opportunity for work-life balance, particularly within leadership roles. The 24/7 demands of many senior corporate roles represent an impasse to individuals who wish to nurture areas of their life outside of work. While studies suggest that women are no less ambitious than men in terms of career goals, these ambitions have a more significant impact on other spheres of their lives. For instance, women often continue to play the primary role in family care situations, and when a career opportunity arises that would require them to forego some or all of those responsibilities, many are understandably unable or unwilling to pay that price. If organizations want to better utilize their existing talent, there needs to be greater understanding of and accommodation for the multiple roles that their key staff play in the modern world.

Leadership Differences – Many organizations don’t fully understand or value the leadership differences between men and women. It’s widely accepted that women and men have fundamental differences that are grounded both in their neurobiology and in their cultural training. The different emphasis that many women leaders place on connection, empathy, emotional cue- taking, consensus building, risk-taking, mutuality, and questioning are often misconstrued as a “less-than” leadership style by organizations when they clash with the dominant organizational culture. Plenty of research has been done to establish the importance of supporting diverse management styles and viewpoints within an organization, but companies need to do more to make sure that those principles are actually being applied in the workplace.

In the end, creating a pathway for more women into corporate leadership will require change on multiple levels—individual, organizational, and cultural. We at CFA Society Toronto are tremendously proud of our legacy of female leadership and success and hope that many of our past leaders can inspire the many promising young women following in their footsteps.

Lastly, allow me to offer hearty congratulations to all of the new charterholders at CFA Society Toronto! I sincerely hope that all of your friends, family, employers, clients, and peers appreciate what a tremendous milestone this is—and that you make good use of your local society resources for continued career advancement.