Persistent bias against women: what will it take to turn the tide in Life Sciences?

In August 1910, an International Socialist Women's Conference was organized ahead of the general meeting of the Socialist Second International in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Inspired in part by American socialists, German delegates Clara Zetkin, Käte Duncker, Paula Thiede, and others proposed the establishment of an annual "Women's Day".

112 years later, 8 March is still marked the world over as international Women’s Day. It is clearly needed - gender parity has only been achieved in two of eight tracked “jobs of tomorrow” clusters – people & culture, and content production, UNESCO says.

Sadly, while we have observed some progress, we continue to see the same persistent inequalities in the workplace today. The make-up of senior leadership level in life sciences is one example.

Yes, diversity and inclusion programs abound, as do statements of good intentions, but just what is the hold-up? The facts remain: only 12% of the C-level management of the top med-tech companies and 14% in the top pharmaceutical companies in Germany are female.

Not doing the right things

Some have identified a major disconnect between what companies believe is working to improve diversity and what women see as happening in reality.

A recent survey trying to answer the question ‘Why are talented women being lost from the leadership pipeline?’ found that only 9% of women viewed their companies as fully inclusive versus 40% of companies claiming this.

Our own Odgers Berndtson survey of 2,400 executives and top managers from life sciences companies in Germany echoes this. It points to a number of factors that mean the life sciences industry is failing to realize its potential as a frontrunner in gender equality at both board and executive board level.

"Gender diversity at C-level in the life sciences industry"

Those we surveyed say that women do not feel accepted, whilst men go so far as to criticize women’s lack of courage in pushing for the top. And the disappointing thing is that there is real lack of confidence that obstacles to rising to the most senior levels will be overcome, and that gender parity will become a reality at board and executive level.

As Veronika Ulbort, Partner and head of the German Life Sciences Practice at Odgers Berndtson points out. “There is strong evidence that the life sciences industry has the potential to be a pioneer in recruiting women to top positions compared to other industries. Because the industry has extremely interesting job profiles for women and an above-average proportion of women in the overall workforce.”

But it’s a potential that is going unfilled, and with good reason. The Odgers Berndtson study makes it all too clear that female managers still have to deal with prejudices and role stereotypes in their everyday lives, impeding their route upwards.

Half of women report that they find it difficult to be accepted by men for their leadership style. In contrast, only 20% of men share this opinion.

Two thirds of men point to the inadequate childcare situation in Germany as a major reason why there is no real gender diversity. Also, a half of them believe that women reject a top management position if it is not compatible with family circumstances. However, only 38% of women themselves agree with that.

Do more women drive greater diversity?

Surely those kind of prejudices and biases are less likely to exist in industries where there are much higher proportions of women? That would seem to be logical. With more women added to a workforce, there should be less prejudice and bias, the logic goes.

Well, unfortunately not. New research from HBR (to be published in a forthcoming issue of Personnel Review) shows gender bias is still prevalent in gender-balanced and female-dominated industries.

Even when women are in the majority in these industries, it appears they still experience a multitude of biases.

These include:

• Having to be mindful when expressing authority and downplaying their accomplishments.
• Women reported a lack of acknowledgement for their contributions.
• They were interrupted by men when speaking.
• Even when workplaces had more than a fair share of women, they still had ‘a boys’ club’ mentality- decisions were made mostly by men.
• Women were held responsible for problems outside of their control. They often lacked mentors and sponsors.
• Lastly, some women found no other choice but to limit their aspirations due to personal obligations. They did not find their workplaces supportive of combining work with family.

Given the biases experienced day-in and day-out, and there being no other reality to prove otherwise, women in our Odgers Berndtson research are more likely to actually see the root of the problem in their own behavior. 87% say they doubt their own competence and, in a related point, 80% that they don't advertise their successes enough.

“Too feminine for the job.”

Biases are to be found right through to the recruitment process in our experience. In exchanges with C-level women, we have received feedback that female candidates were rejected by male interview panels because they were “too feminine” for the men.

We believe that overcoming bias and building an organization that can be consistently inclusive requires nothing less than an act of cultural change. Cultural change takes a conscious decision to act - at organizational, leadership and individual level.

Women want to join diverse companies. This is clear.

 Research from Liftstream reports that nearly half of the women they surveyed say they’d reject an employer because of having an all-male board, all-male management and because they were interviewed only by men.

This shows two things. Organizations with a lack of visible diversity cut themselves off from a source of valuable talent. And companies must also recognize there is a lack of diversity at the senior level – or nothing will change. Certainly after 112 years of International Women’s Day, the time for change is well-overdue.

At Odgers Berndtson, our Inclusion and Diversity Consultants can help you and your Board on your journey to reap the full rewards of a diversity, at every level, including the C-suite.

Speak to us about how our experience and approach can help your organization #breakthebias.

You can download the study on “Gender Diversity at C-Level in the Life Sciences Industry” here.