Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | February 6, 2023 | Worcester Business Journal 11 Our business leadership isn't majority women The portion of women in senior business leadership positions remains well below 50% across the state, including at Central Massachusetts companies. From 2018 to 2022, WBJ's investigation The Boardroom Gap found between 63-67% of executive positions and board roles at 75 prominent Central Massachusetts organizations were held by men. Since May, none of the 15 public companies in the region listed on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ are led by a woman. When polled online, three out of four WBJ readers said their organizations' leadership either skews male or is roughly 50/50 between men and women. How gender diverse is the senior leadership at your organization? 38% Roughly 50/50 between men and women F L A S H P O L L COMMENTS "My business (New England Cryogenic Center) has four key principles. Three are female, and I am the fourth and the only male. Definitely unique and worthy of recognition by WBJ!" the traditional C-Suite level leadership opportunities. Beaupre, who is a professor of marketing and communications at Nichols, stressed the inclusion of women at the top of company mastheads is good for the organizations. "ere's a lot of research on what happens when women are involved in leadership," she said. "We see that companies are more profitable." Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams are 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than those in the bottom quartile for gender diversity, according to a 2019 study by consulting firm McKinsey & Co., where it analyzed more than 1,000 large companies in 15 countries. Despite the business advantages, the progress toward executive gender diversity has been slow, McKinsey's study found. In the U.S. and the United Kingdom, female representation on executive teams rose from 15% in 2014 to 20% in 2020. Opening pathways for women to access traditional leadership roles is still essential to progress in closing the gap between male and female executives, said Prior. Seeing representation at the highest levels, especially for women of color and women in the LGBTQ community, is necessary to empower the next group of leaders, said Prior. "It sends a message about who belongs there and who doesn't," said Prior. "It can shape a person's aspirations." For companies themselves, lacking diverse women in top leadership means missing perspectives, said Prior. e company is not making those perspectives a priority, which is why intentionality is still required at this moment. "Leadership is a skill that needs to be taught," said Catrina Gardner, vice president of the Worcester YPWA. "To do it successfully, it's something you should invest time into." In Gardner's perspective, women have innate qualities making them good lead- ers: listening skills, empathy, and under- standing. With investment and training, this can be leveraged to make women especially effective in high level roles. Recovering from the Shecession e coronavirus pandemic has created problems for women's careers, which could have negative results downstream. Burdens created by the pandemic, such as child care, disproportionately impacted women professionals and specifically women of color, said Prior. "It has pushed women's leadership and advancement opportunities back," said Prior. Women have been leaving the workforce at higher rates over the past three years of the pandemic, said Beaupre. Looking just at 2020, the first year of the pandemic, 57% of women participated in the workforce, the lowest number since 1988, according to the National Women's Law Center. is phenomenon became known as the Shecession. It's a cause for concern and a step back, and something organizations should be focused on mitigating through their policies, she said. Some shis in working life hastened along by the pandemic have not been harmful, said Aguilar of the YPWA. "With social media and this new digital era, as a Millennial woman, it's a bit easier to find your tribe," said Aguilar. "It can be easier to go out and find those connections." ose connections are what is essential for women to make it to the top of individual industries, said Gillian Murphy, membership director for the YPWA. "It's creating pathways and connections that's going to give that opportunity," said Murphy. "It's what makes it possible for people to find that path into the upper echelon of the industry they are trying to see the top of." For Beaupre, looking at the gender breakdown of boards of directors is a way to guess about the future of leadership from company to company. Regionally, the makeup of the boards mirrors the national average, said Beaupre, with roughly 30% of seats occupied by women. is is possible cause for hope for the future. "at's where the next leaders are decided upon," said Beaupre. W W O M E N I N L E A D E R S H I P F O C U S 20% Mostly male 11% Mostly female 17% Overwhelmingly male 14% Overwhelmingly female CEOs of public companies in Central Mass. Company Location CEO Assumed role Ameresco, Inc. Framingham George Sakellaris 2000 American Superconductor Corp. Ayer Daniel McGahn 2011 Boston Scientific Corp. Marlborough Michael Mahoney 2011 BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. Westborough Robert Eddy 2021 Cognex Corp. Natick Robert Willett 2011 Cytiva Marlborough Emmanuel Ligner 2020 The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. Worcester John Roche 2017 Insulet Acton Jim Hollingshead 2022 Hologic, Inc. Marlborough Stephen MacMillan 2013 IPG Photonics Corp. Oxford Eugene Scherbakov 2021 The L.S. Starrett Co. Athol Douglas Starrett 2001 Psychemedics Corp. Acton Raymond Kubacki 1991 ReWalk Robotics, Inc. Marlborough Larry Jasinski 2012 TJX Cos., Inc. Framingham Ernie Herrman 2016 Waters Corp. Milford Udit Batra 2020 Note: Only companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ are included. Sources: Individual company websites Catrina Gardner, communications manager for Vision Advertising, became vice president of the YWPA in June. YWPA director Katherine Aguilar runs a brick-and-mortar store at the Worcester Public Market.

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