Mexico must break the cycle of machismo to have more women leaders

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  • The macho culture in Mexico is the main obstacle for women to reach leadership positions. 
  • María Soledad DeMatteo, María Ariza and Clarissa Pantoja, top Mexican executives, spoke about the gender gap and how to combat it.
  • In 30 years, closing the labor gender gap would imply a growth of 43% of GDP. 

Mexico requires more women in leadership positions, but to achieve this it first needs to break with the macho culture that limits them to studying certain careers or choosing between career success and family.

We must “make this change in the way of thinking (…) the prejudice that exists is fundamental (to change it),” said Clarissa Pantoja, director of Corona México, during her participation in the Business without Gender panel, of the e-business fair. commerce MELIXP.

The lack of women in leadership positions reflects a culture that values ​​people for their gender and not for their merits; which hinders their professional growth. To end this pattern, mothers and fathers must instill gender equality from infancy; considered María Soledad DeMatteo, Vice President of Product Development of Information Technologies of Mercado Libre.

“Inequality is ingrained in men and women of all ages. Just a few days ago a friend told me to take away my feminist ideas and understand that I live in a world dominated by men and I have to accept my reality, ”Laura, one of the panel attendees, told Business Insider Mexico.

The importance of having more women leaders in Mexico

The World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Gender Gap Report says that under current conditions, Mexico will take 99.5 years to achieve labor parity between men and women.

The prevalence of labor inequality has a cost for the economic growth and development of the country. Last year, the World Bank said that the gender gap in the labor market is associated with a 22% to 25% loss of per capita income in Mexico.

Put another way, if gender equality were achieved by 2052 – that is, in 32 years – the Mexican economy would grow up to 43%; said María Ariza, general director of the Institutional Stock Exchange (BIVA).

The federal government’s expectation was to grow between 1.5 and 2.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019. However, the economy fell 0.1% in the period, a contraction that had not been seen in the last decade.

What keeps women from jobs?

One of the factors that prevent women from growing in their jobs and separates them from certain economic sectors – such as technology – is the lack of diversification of the work environment, shows a study by the firm Boston Consulting Group, reported by Reuters.

The document shows that women hold just one in four positions in data science, where technology is used to analyze trends. This absence – and consequent over-representation of men in the sector – can generate discrimination biases in technology, according to the study.

In addition, he points out that for women, the technology sector is more hostile than for men, a situation that is replicated in other industries, Reuters reported.

“We are afraid to go forward, we go backwards (…) we have confidence in ourselves, but that confidence comes with preparation,” Ariza told the attendees of the Business without Gender panel.

Source: reutersmx, businessinsider.mx

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