Opinion

Where are all the women chief marketers?

merdith2The gender diversity debate is far from over, and we must take pro-active steps to ensure women in marketing are given the encouragement and opportunity to rise to the top, argues Meredith Wallace.

It’s been nearly two weeks since Saatchi & Saatchi chairman Kevin Roberts resigned after his comments regarding gender diversity sparked an outcry in the marketing world.

In his interview with Business Insider, Kevin Roberts alluded that the gender diversity debate is nearly over, and that, in reality, women are content to never reach leadership roles as they lack the “vertical ambition” of men.


His comments, while certainly ludicrous given numerous global studies that indicate otherwise, are not surprising and highlight an unavoidable problem we must acknowledge if we are to overcome gender inequality in the workplace.

Initiating change must have senior buy-in, and with the vast majority of senior leadership roles occupied by men, organisations must actively have measures in place to close the diversity gap and create impact. If anything, Roberts’ remarks highlight just how far we still have to go in terms of changing mindsets.

A long way to go

Christine Wright

Christine Wright

As Christine Wright, managing director of recruitment firm Hays in Asia stated: “Given that most people in senior leadership roles are still men, it’s difficult to see how gender parity can be accelerated when many of those in positions of influence do not see any inequality to begin with.”

It should come as no surprise senior leadership in the Malaysian workforce is predominantly male. And this is not just a personal observation. A recent survey by Hays indicates 89% of respondents, both men and women, said the most senior person within their organisation is male, and 59% said their line manager is also male.

As roles become more senior, the disparity in representation becomes wider. This is something that should be quite obvious to Malaysia’s marketing community.

While there may be a wealth of female copywriters, there are very few female creative directors in Malaysia’s marketing environment. Despite many women in junior to mid-level positions, senior leadership is dominated by men.

Yet, 87% of men believe the same career opportunities are open to equally capable colleagues regardless of gender, compared to 59% of women. Furthermore, nearly 80% of men think there is equal pay between genders, compared to 66% of women. Meanwhile, 58% of all respondents said their organisation does not have formal gender diversity policies and practices in place.

Are women simply less ambitious?

There is an apparent disparity in ambition in Malaysia: 85% of men aspire to reach top leadership positions in their career, compared to only 68% of women.

However, according to a study by Michelle Ryan, a professor of social and organisational psychology of the University of Exeter in the UK, women are just as ambitious as men when they begin their careers. It’s just that their ambition often erodes as they become wearied by fighting against barriers to success.

ryan

Michelle Ryan

In an interview with the Guardian, Ryan stated: “While men’s ambition increases over time, women’s decreases. My research suggests that this drop is not associated with wanting to have kids, or to stay home and look after them. It’s related to not having support, mentors, or role models to make it to the top, and the subtle biases against women that lead to their choices.”

Having operated within marketing and start-ups (a similar field with disparities in gender diversity) for nearly eight years now, I can attest my own personal struggle with gender bias and structural challenges – in most cases, so subtle even I wasn’t aware of it until recent years.

As a younger marketer, I was quick to believe myths about women (or lack of) in the workforce, and did not understand the full context of the situation. It’s only as I have moved higher up to senior positions that I realised the conversations we have about women in the workforce must be more varied, and structured to address a variety of workplace gender challenges.

What we can do?

With so few women in leadership currently, organisations will face challenges in structuring mentorship programs that connect women in leadership with those below them. Even in marketing, a field many have assumed is female-dominated, diversity wanes at the top, with women hardly present in senior leadership positions.

There simply isn’t enough women in leadership positions in marketing to provide mentorship at scale for an organisation. That is especially true for fields that are generally more male-dominated, such as search marketing and web development.

To overcome these challenges, women will, as Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg has said, need to “lean in” and take an outside-in approach to encourage and celebrate the achievements of their peers, counteracting the challenges that are so prevalent in the workplace.

Wright, from Hays, said that while Malaysia “leads from the front” compared with many other countries in terms of female ambition for the most senior roles, there are still fewer women aspiring to a top leadership position in their career than men.

She wrote that “being able to promote your achievements is a key part of successful career development and reaching such roles”, adding that employers “should ensure opportunities are communicated to all and recognise and draw out the skills and ambitions of those around them.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Yet I wonder, if so few organisations have formal gender diversity policies and practices in place, when there are few women in senior leadership, and few companies who celebrate the accomplishments of women in leadership, how can we expect change? Is an inside-out approach enough to create impact?

Taking an ‘outside-in’ approach

Jenifer Ooi

Jenifer Ooi

I, along with four women from Malaysia’s marketing scene – Jessica Yong, client director, Jenifer Ooi, creative director, and Niniek Sugiarti, head of outreach – are making an active effort to create impact with launch of MissMafia, a female networking group that takes an ‘outside-in’ approach by focusing on encouraging and connecting women within Malaysia’s female leadership community.

As part of a largely female leadership team at Lion & Lion, we realised we were in a different environment than we had been in the past – one that was more encouraging, uplifting, and more productive for our career aspirations.

A light went on. This environment wasn’t by chance. It was a result of having greater diversity in the office, and ultimately, a greater network within the office. This is something not all women are lucky to have within their organization.

Seeking to build on this environment elsewhere, and encourage more women in leadership positions, the four of us founded MissMafia.

We want to encourage more women to reach the top, and not feel limited in their career growth. This is especially true in marketing, where women often limit themselves to mid-level positions, or stick to what are traditionally seen as female roles within marketing, such as content or PR.

Part of that effort is to provide venues in which women can celebrate their accomplishments, and nurture and inspire others to do the same.

Meredith Wallace is group head of social media & outreach at Lion & Lion, Malaysia

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