IMF report says women participation is imperative to business

The 20^th century didn’t just bring industrialization and the world wars; it also bought with it the realization that women deserved equal rights. Since almost a century ago, different movements have been urging people to promote gender equality across all sections of life. A new research by the International Monetary Fund on women in the workplace, however,  has proved that gender equality at workplace is imperative to the business model and not just women.

Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief, Huffington Post, spoke to the International Monetary Fund’s first and current Managing Director Christine Lagarde about the results.  Lagarde was the first woman to become finance minister of a G8 economy and revealed that she often has to demonstrate the business case, as she, too often is the only woman in the room.

She said, “It is a moral issue, it’s a moral imperative but beyond that when you demonstrate to policy makers, to members of government that it actually makes economic sense and it can bring more growth, it can bring a more diverse society, which is more inclusive, and it can be, bottom line, much more profitable from the global economic point of view; then you cross over to them and you bridge this gap of not so sure about the business case.”

The report also reveals that women by far are the majority of the global consumers and if they were in decision-making positions, the business will benefit immensely. The Fortune 500 companies that encouraged female participation also proved to be more profitable than the ones who didn’t. It’s also important to note that the economies that bought down legal barriers for women did not increase the unemployment rate for men.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: Huffington Post

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