Women’s History Month: A Brief Recap of Current Facts

Today marks the start of Women's History Month -- a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture, and society and has been observed annually in the month of March in the United States since 1987.

Did you know that it started with a weeklong celebration organized by a school district in Sonoma, CA in 1978? Did you know that Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as National Women's History week in 1980? It was eventually expanded to the entire month of March.

International Women's Day (IWD) actually falls on March 8 this year. IWD is a global celebration of the economic, political, and social achievements of women, and took place for the first time on March 8, 1911. Today, many countries around the world celebrate the holiday with demonstrations and educational events.

History.com (The History Channel) provides a nice summary and cool timeline of women's history milestones from 1776 (Abigail Adams) to 2021 (Kamala Harris).

Current Stats

So where are women today? Progress has been made but is painstakingly slow. Women make up 47% of the U.S. labor force, account for 60% of bachelor’s degrees in the U.S. and in Europe, and about 30% of S&P 500 board seats.

The number of S&P 500 female CEOs is at an all-time high of (drumroll...) 8%. Given that women have been in the labor force for decades, obtain educational degrees at higher rates than men, and now account for one-third of board seats, you would think that we would see greater numbers in top leadership -- but that is simply not the case.

There are 41 female CEOs, which means there are 459 male CEOs (out of 500).

CEOs are overwhelmingly White, straight, and male. White women, women of color, women born outside the U.S., and LGBTQ individuals are significantly underrepresented.

Women of color make up 15% of female CEOs (6/41) and a dismal 1.2% of all CEOs (6/500). Think we can do better? Me too.

Women's History Month Events

To support both Women's History Month and IWD, I've engaged in several activities.

First, on March 8, I'll be leading a presentation on "Driving DEI: Inclusive Workplace Strategies" for the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA). They are offering 7 hours of programming and my session is 11-12 pm PT. Here's link to LI post and 2-min video in case it's of interest.

Second, I was interviewed by Lisa Lloyd for a podcast called Beyond the Water Cooler where we discuss leadership traits of men and women. It was a really interesting discussion and was released on IWD March 8.

Third, on March 23, I'm hosting a book club for the HBA on The Power of Perception. The book is based on my dissertation research and focuses on why we don't see more women leading our global organizations -- and most importantly, what we can do about it.

Finally, I'm giving 3 keynote presentations on these topics to organizations in the public, private and government sectors to honor Women's History Month.

Call to Action

Take time on both March 8 and throughout the month of March to celebrate women's contributions to history, culture, and society. Make posts on social media, send flowers, publicly recognize a female colleague (or better yet - promote them).

The theme of this year's IWD is #embraceequity. Each one of us can actively support and embrace equity within our own sphere of influence.

Here are a few things you can do:

Challenge gender stereotypes, call out discrimination, draw attention to bias, and be more inclusive. You can also encourage your friends, family, colleagues, and community to embrace equity. Together we can work collectively to impact positive change.

The International Women's Day website has some great resources and ideas for getting involved.

Let's take advantage of this time and do everything we can to support, recognize, and celebrate women!

Dr. Shawn

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. You can find more information on my website drshawnandrews.com or my book, The Power of Perception: Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, and the Gender Divide