Leadership Diversity and Inclusion Essay 2022

LEADERSHIP DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
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Addressing Gender Diversity in the field of Leadership and Management
Introduction
Gender diversity has turned out to be a reality, but gender inclusion is a choice, which
must be made done by the people holding positions in leadership. Blackmore (2006), in his
research, identified that diversity is the result of the feminism and anti-racism but has
recently privileged learning and leadership as an individual accomplishment rather than a
collective process. Addressing gender diversity has resulted in equal opportunities and social
justice in several Western democratic nations. It is significant for the leaders to be responsive
towards cultural, racial, gender and sexual diversity for ensuring that everyone gets equal
opportunity for growth and development. Addressing gender diversity is related to offering
equal opportunity to both males and females for their professional development. People from
different backgrounds and gender can come together for creating innovative ideas that would
encourage the growth and development of ideas. However, despite these strategies, several
companies are not benefitting as they are dominated by a single-sex. The technology industry
mostly employs the men while the nursing sector employs women. However, the range of the
customers served by them is more diverse than the people helping them. Thus, for better
serving the customers, it is crucial for maintaining gender diversity in the workplace.
The present essay explores the gender diversity in the management and the leadership
aspect. The first section of the article would discuss the importance of gender diversity. The
second part would shed light on the absence of gender equality and its effects on the
organisation. Finally, the essay gas investigated how gender diversity can be implemented
within the organisation in the leadership and management field for attaining success.
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Discussion
Lakshmi and Shrivastav (2017) commented that gender diversity is the selection of an
equal number of males and the females in the workplace and encouraging their fair treatment.
It also includes the assessment, recognition and promotion of several skills, resources and
probability of women and men in their diversity. Gender diversity is essential for any
business as it aids in hiring from a vast pool of talent. Diversity brings in with it a richness
and variety of experiences and perspectives that create benefits for the organisations and the
stakeholders. Deploying women in the leadership position give rise to creativity and
innovation and enable the board of members to take note of a large number of ideas and
possibilities. The organisation should be a place that encourages the growth and the
development of every people and so that they can work efficiently. Broadbridge & Simpson
(2011) mentioned that at the different levels of the organisations, employers and the
employees must interact with proper respect, effectiveness and confidences. Thus, true
diversity can be attained by employing collective individuals who can showcase a complex
blend of attributes, perspectives and behaviour and talents. Blackmore (2006) commented
that considering gender diversity, the femocrats in Australia created legislative for the gender
equity reform. This policy encouraged the growth of the women from the backward societies
in terms of education, health and welfare. The Aboriginal Australians were mostly benefited
from this policy as the government of the country also supported it.
Studies have made it evident that the organisations with an equal number of the males
and the females perform much better as compared to the male-dominated teams. The majority
of the organisations are indeed unable to focus on attaining a balanced workforce, especially
for the leadership and the management positions. Cook & Glass (2013) argued that gender
diversity does not mean 50-50 representation of the men and the women in the working
position, but it means that every organisation should have equal representations of both the
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genders. Gender diversity can be attained by an organisation when all the employees
irrespective of gender, age, and background can avail for similar rewards opportunities and
recognition. In several cases, gender inequality arises from the absence of commitment and
leadership from the executive in the organisation. Mindsets and attitude form significant
barer in the advancement of woman as males are perceived as an individual while the female
is considered being representatives of feminism.
Diversity in the workforce provides better access to resources that includes credit
sources, information and industry knowledge. Furthermore, the organisation can serve a wide
range of customer base with a diverse gender workforce. With an effective gender diversity
policy, the company can attract and recruit talented women. Companies cannot become
competitive in the global market by ignoring 50% of the potential workforce. Having a
diverse gender workforce and its proper management enables the organisation to undertake
fruitful decisions, attain financial success and create a significant competitive edge in the
market.
Unfortunately, genders diversity is still a significant mile stone to achieve. Several
studies have made it evident that genders diversity is positively related to the financial
performance of the company. But, the women representation in the companies is much less as
compared to that of men (Chin, 2013). Moreover, leadership positions are more occupied by
males as compared to females. For understanding this issue, Gender Forward Pioneer Index
investigated the Global Fortune 500 and the most renowned company list in the world. The
result showed the presence of 8600 executives in 36 countries but included only 11%
representation of women in the senior leadership position. None of the companies has an
equal or fair representation of both the genders.
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