Research shows that prioritizing gender equity can improve profitability, improve employee retention, and attract talent. There are societal benefits too — gender equity has been found to make communities safer and healthier.
Despite these benefits, gender inequality remains entrenched in public and private companies. Novata’s new paper, “Closing the Gap: An Analysis of the Current State of Gender Representation in the Private Markets,” dives into gender diversity in the private markets, drawing on data from Novata benchmarks. Collected across different regions and from companies of varying sizes and industries, Novata’s benchmarking data shows significant gaps in female representation at the senior-most levels at private companies. This data underscores the urgent need for concrete efforts to accelerate progress towards gender equality. Novata hopes to start a collective conversation about ways in which the private markets can do so by sharing these initial insights.
Below are some key highlights from the paper:
- Women on Boards: On average, 1 in 10 board members at private companies are women, globally.
- A bright spot: The overall unadjusted median gender wage gap for companies reporting on Novata is 16% vs. the worldwide gender wage gap of 23% reported by the UN.
- Company size has an impact on representation: The median percentage of women on boards for firms under 100 employees is zero. For larger firms (i.e., over500 employees), the median percentage of women on boards rises to 12.5.
The paper also outlines action steps for the private sector to pursue progress on gender representation. Read the full paper to learn more about these findings and the path forward on gender equity.
