This UFI connects session is a follow up to the previous session that took place on June 10th. It’s cards on the table time: what concrete actions can we put in place to make our industry better, make it more resilient through driving change and working together to ensure that we have more diverse representation at senior level?
Let’s take our own association as a case study: the UFI’s elections for the chapter leadership positions around the world saw a record number of candidates, and a record number of member companies voting. From the 16 elected voluntary chapter leaders, three are women – all of them in the Asia/Pacific Chapter. The female candidates in the other chapters did not obtain sufficient votes, although it is worth noting that the number of women who put their names forward for election was small in comparison to the number of male candidates.
This is representative of our industry overall: there are around 70% of women at entry level in our industry, and just approximately 10% at senior level. Yet studies have shown that having more diversity in senior management makes business sense. It’s not about being better, it’s about putting complementary skills and know-how at the service of our industry.
