The Sustainability Handbook, Volume 1 – Chapter 26: Gender diversity

Gender diversity has become a hot topic in the contemporary world. With more women getting involved in leadership, resource ownership and employment opportunities, it's inspiring to see progress toward equity and equal opportunities for all genders at workplaces. However, discrimination still exists in various parts of the world where women are treated unfairly due to their gender. When societies become more equal, economies become more resilient (Bank, 2022). In this chapter the authors consider gender diversity and what actions could be taken to ensure that people of different genders are treated fairly and have equal opportunities in the workplace. We explore gender equality through the lens of Sustainable Development Goal 5, Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Against a global backdrop where 86/144 world economies impose at least one legal restriction on women’s employment, and nine impose all three, shutting them out of many high-paying jobs and women cannot work the same night hours as men in 21 economies (Bank, 2022), we explore the impact of unequal practice. We pay particular attention to the workplace in the areas of discrimination, effective participation, and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels and access to resources: economic, land, and natural resource ownership. Although progress to redress the balance is being made, it is slow and estimated to take at least 138 years. The authors propose that commitment and bold action are needed to accelerate progress, including through the promotion of laws, policies, budgets, and institutions that advance gender equality (Nations, U., 2022a) and propose solutions to enhance the rate of progress. In this chapter, we'll explore why gender diversity is a sustainable approach that can help address these issues while creating an inclusive environment for all employees. So let's dive into this important topic!