Is professionalism debacle to gender parity?
By Zion Rufus
Owing to the tremendous backlash which has followed the corporate topic of underrepresentation of women in organizational structures, the push for gender parity as well as the call for organizations to redress the current gender imbalance on management boards and C-suite levels have provoked the question of the prevalence of gender parity over professionalism.
Against the backdrop of men and women jobs differing greatly across sectors, industries, and occupations, the idea of gender parity has been perceived as an awkward sentiment.
Commenting on the issue, CEO Modion Communications, Odion Aleobua believes the idea of gender parity on boards is a delicate decision-making that requires alignment with the dynamics of the particular organization.
He said: “A candidate’s competence must be at the top of prioritized requirements for the job, but where there is a gender disparity at the C-suite of the leadership echelon, it is more discerning and smart to take an affirmative route to ensure the suitable representation is in place.”
Although there has been progress in terms of increasing gender diversity on corporate boards and leadership teams, some industry professionals have also identified gender segregation to be caused by differences in interests, physical capabilities(in the areas of physical/manual labor), care responsibilities (such as home care duties, childcare, spousal care), and factors “beyond women control” (such as female monthlies and emotional imbalance caused by changes in hormones).
In an interview with MARKETING EDGE, an industry professional who pleaded anonymity shared that in her nearly two decades of serving in the C-suite capacity, she has “seen relatively low interest in anything on the part of women”.
She said: “It might baffle people to hear me say this but it is the truth, having gender balance on a management team is a tough nut to crack. Not because there are no competent women out there, but when you need people to fill up a space, you throw open the vacancy, 10 people show up, and out of 10 you have only 4 females and 6 males, and from the 6 males, 4 are highly qualified and competent, and from the 4 females you can barely even find 2 that understand the rudiments of the job they have applied for; what do you expect an HR to do? forfeit the qualified ones based on the sentiment of gender parity?”
In her own contribution, Chief Executive Officer, DKK Nigeria, Temitope Jemirigbe submitted that appointments of any kind should always be merit-based.
She noted: “However, there’s no role or position that you would not find a female or male gender to fill if the corporate objective of the organization so states. It behooves on the official charged with filling that post to drill down and expand the search, not only to find the best-qualified candidate but also the right fit, with regard to the corporate needs of the organization.”
According to Jemirigbe, it is often times botched when organizations try to be politically correct or opt to do what is expedient; “they take the easy route and settle for the next available candidate, and claim that they cannot find a female gender with the right qualification or some rare situation, they can find the right guy for the job.”
“There’s always a woman or a man for that matter, who is appropriately qualified for any given position-you just need to know what you are looking for and set about getting it.”
Commenting on the issue, Tony Agenmonmen, former Senior Strategy Manager at Nigerian Breweries Plc and former President of the National Institute of Marketing (NIMN) shared that at all times, professionalism should prevail.
He said: If there is no discrimination there will be a process of natural selection. But in this era of balancing, it’s not out of place to go the extra mile to have a fair representation of both sexes, but definitely not searching for parity.”
CEO X3M Ideas and President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, Steve Babaeko pointed: “At C-suite level or any other level for that matter gender should not be the main reason for qualification. Having said that, it shouldn’t be a reason for excluding anyone either. The gender conversation becomes more crucial when you are dealing with a patriarchal society that deliberately underplays or relegates the female gender to a lower rung even in crystal clear situations when a woman is more experienced and qualified. Truth is that women come to the table with a unique point of view and the society can only benefit when women take their rightful place in all spheres including the C-suite.”
Femi Adelusi, Group Managing Director, Brand Eye, and President of the Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN) shared: “The world and modernization is positively pro gender parity today. Both genders increasingly and in modern societies and in educated homes receive the same educational opportunities given to our female and male children. They write the same exams, qualifications etc, so certainly gender parity is fair and should certainly be advocated for across different areas of endeavour.”
Stating further he said: “Women have continued to shatter the glass ceiling across business segments locally and globally . Many women are demonstrating capabilities and getting into boards and c-suite levels organically by merit and without needing special gender considerations. However, if there are areas such as technical or other specialist positions that do not typically have women by default, they should be encouraged and given the opportunity to grow into such roles.”
On her part, Managing Director, Prima Garnet Africa, Yetunde Adesina stated that gender parity should not in any way prevail over professionalism, “but truthfully there are many women who are professionals but due to societal imbalances they’re never given the chance. My submission therefore is that women should be given equal opportunities like men to prove their mettle. It’s been proven that female professionals do their jobs excellently, sometimes better than men.”
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