Do you classify jobs by gender? What is your first reaction when you learn that the General Manager of a Regional Marine department is a female?

Think about what comes to your mind when  you learn that the new appointed Director of a Global well known and respected company is also female?,   when entering  a hospital, do you expect to be received at the information desk only by women?

It is common to connect a specific gender to a job position just because that is what society dictates.

There are positions that generate great deal  of respect, accountability and admiration and those are generally expected to be a male figure attached to it.

More and more women are stepping up into leadership roles,  but there is still much more to do.

 There are good news though…

There is awareness of the benefits in having women within organizations and the positives changes that a female way of thinking brings to the table.

Having women in leadership positions within the companies is profitable. Various studies on the labor market show that the more diverse a company, the higher the profitability and productivity will increase, at least by  20%.

London Business School found a positive correlation between gender equity and innovation, greater equity, more innovation and vice versa. So it’s assured by David Cabrera, president of the National Association of Human Resource Professionals of Panama (Anreh).

In fact, in November 2017,  it was observed that the best jobs  of the Inter-American Development Bank (BID for the Spanish translation), which for the first time allows to compare the conditions in 17 countries in Latin America, revealed that women represent 51.7% of the economically active population in the region.

Although the empowerment of women has improved, presence in the labor market is still “weak” according to indicators, not only in numbers but in  salaries compared to men, in some cases occupying the same positions as men.

A  peek at women in Panama.

The IDB (Inter american Development Bank) estimates that in Panama, more than 62% of college students who graduate in the country are women, but out in the “working field” they earn 17% less than men.

Let me share with you some benefits of having women joining leadership teams:

• They are perceived to be much more comprehensive, honest, and with a great deal of ethics than men, this is not to say that they are totally honest and men are not, but a women in leadership role is generally perceived that way. This definitely benefits  the company as it creates a working environment based on trust.
• Women in leadership positions tend to be more cooperative. Last year, a study of the United States concluded that women are more adept at delegating and organizing than men.
• Women are excellent mentors.  Around  30% of the polled by Pew Research found that women were best mentors than men, while only 5% thought that men were better mentors than women.

So next time you meet someone in a high level position or in a job that you expect to be performed by a man, open your mind to the possibility of it being done by a woman, and now you know some of the reasons why :-).