Women Good for Business Performance, Says UN Official

"Women are good for countries' economic growth and companies' performance," said Julia Broussard, Country Programme Manager of the UN Women China Office, during a seminar in Beijing on October 31.

"Women's contributions to the bottom line is overwhelmingly positive," said the Country Program Manager of the UN Women China Office.

Broussard made the remark during her opening speech at "Women's Leadership and Workplace Diversity: Benefits to Business", which aims to promote women's leadership in business.

The more women participate in the senior management of a company, the more positive effects they will bring. Women like Yang Lan,chairperson of Sun Media Group and Sun Culture Foundation, Jean Liu, COO of Beijing Xiaoju Technology Co., Ltd. (Noted for its Didi Taxi calling system) and Lin Bo, vice-in-chief of China WTO Tribune, have proven the above facts.

Co-sponsored by UN Women and Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB), 120 famous entrepreneurs took part in the meeting which was anchored by Yang Lan, an outstanding businesswoman.

The meeting focused on how to bring out women's potential and engage women in decision-making and leadership. Further discussions on women's advantages in leadership and how these advantages benefit businesses circle were still going on.

"Business colleges like our CKGSB should have a global vision and humanistic approach to caring for women if they want to shape the future. To achieve this goal, we have admitted more women into our college with women making up 27% of our EMBA students and 57% of our MBA students, hitting a new historic high," said Xiang Bing, founding dean of CKGSB.

Geoff R. Wilson, COO of audit services firm KPMG Asia Pacific, gave a speech in which he spoke about creating competitive advantages through the diversity of talents in the workplace. "Statistics indicate that women's leadership is highly related to the profitability of a company" Said Wilson, adding "Women's economic empowerment is a great factor in today's economy and the decision to make workplaces more diverse is wise and just."

After the speeches, a Q and A session was held in which opinions were voiced freely. The main topics raised during the Q and A were on women's leadership, diversity, and maintaining a balance between home life and careers.

Yang responded to questions, saying: "More and more men need to realize that women bring huge economic benefits to businesses and encourage women to involve themselves in leadership roles so we can realize the latent potential of talented women. Even though we still have a long way to go, fortunately, we are already on the way."

Counter arguments from those in attendance included questions about industries like mining and programming, which some in attendance thought were unsuitable for women. How do women achieve gender equality when some jobs are physically more suitable for men?

Gender equality means equality of opportunity not equality of outcome, Geoff explained, physical differences between men and women mean there will always be some industries in which men are over represented, we aren't looking to battle against nature, but we at least want women to have the same opportunities as men.

"I have three sons, so if we want true equality between men and women, then you women present here should have more girl children." he jokingly concluded.

(Women of China)