Ladies, it’s time to lean the fuck in for some important business news. According to a new study Peterson Institute for International Economics and EY (formerly as Ernst & Young), corporations with women in leadership roles have a higher profit margin.
According to the New York Times, the study found that companies with women in senior management positions were more profitable than their less diverse counterparts. Further, it found that putting a larger number of women in those positions—up to 30 percent of them—would increase profitability by 15 percent.
Marcus Nolan, the institute’s director of studies, told the Times that there was also some evidence that having more women on boards increases profitability, but the data wasn’t as conclusive. “In statistical terms, that evidence is not robust,” Nolan said, meaning that there weren’t enough women in those positions to draw clear conclusions.
Indeed, despite evidence of increased profitability, corporate America still seems remiss to hire and advance women. The Times reports:
Almost 60 percent of the companies reviewed had no female board members, and more than 50 percent had no female executives. Just under 5 percent had a female chief executive.
Interestingly, the study also found that gender quotas for women on corporate boards—like those in Denmark and Finland—had little impact on increased profitability. Rather, Noland suggested that nondiscrimination laws and “supportive policies” that accounted for childcare, maternal and paternal leave, had more impact on “women making it to the very top.” Again: Shocking.
Image via Shutterstock.
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