Inclusion as a work in progress

By: Anna Marie Pabellon

THE world observed International Women's Day (IWD) three weeks ago, but at Deloitte Philippines, we've opted to spend the entire month of March highlighting women at work and the importance of advocating for them. While the Philippines has built a reputation as a gender-equal nation — we have consistently ranked high on the Global Gender Gap Index, the World Economic Forum's annual measurement of gender equality — there is no arguing that we still have work to do in making all spaces inclusive and equitable for women. The latest index, for example, shows the country slipping on two subindices: political empowerment and health and survival. And it's not lost on us in the private sector that boardrooms continue to be heavily dominated by men.

In the workplace, women still have a tougher time balancing their work/life responsibilities due to persistent gender stereotypes. In a recent Deloitte and Workplace Intelligence survey of 700 full-time managers through senior leaders in the financial services sector, about 85 percent of women and men respondents say they have primary or shared caregiving responsibilities. But guess who ends up shouldering a greater share of that important duty?

Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that women spend nearly twice as much time per day caring for family members compared to men. In the Philippines, a 2023 working paper from the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development said that women spend, on average, three times more hours caring for children and doing house chores compared to men.

Fortunately, the flexibility that comes with remote work has proven to be an effective intervention for this imbalance. Deloitte's survey revealed that the positive impact of remote work on women caregivers has been most pronounced in the areas of work/life balance, mental health and relationships with family members. Interestingly, it has benefited even more male caregivers in one aspect: 75 percent of men who were surveyed report that remote work improved their relationship with their children, compared to 67 percent of women caregivers. The active participation of men in childcare is a significant part of mitigating the adverse employment consequences for mothers with young children. How can business leaders contribute to this effort?

In the workplace, promoting gender equality in caregiving responsibilities may come in the form of offering equal parental leave regardless of gender. Leveraging their ability to set the tone at the top, leaders should also consider openly sharing their experiences, vulnerabilities and responsibilities as caregivers outside of work. This kind of frank conversation may inspire more male caregivers to use their family leave benefits, especially if they know that doing so will not be held against them.

Sensitizing employees to potential biases in performance evaluations is one more way to support women caregivers. In Deloitte's survey, 33 percent of women respondents with childcare and eldercare responsibilities said their performance isn't evaluated fairly, compared to 19 percent of women with only childcare responsibilities. Naturally, dual caregivers will need more caregiving support from their organizations. Inclusive business leaders would look at this as an opportunity to offer resources and solutions that address the unique needs of these professionals.

Another area where disparities could disproportionately harm women is trust in tech wearables. Deloitte estimates that 440 million units of health wearables will ship this year, up from 320 million in 2022. The popularity of these connected devices makes them ideal tools for monitoring health 24/7, but only if doctors and users trust them.

In Deloitte's 2023 Connected Consumer Survey, our researchers looked at consumer sentiment regarding these tech devices. Fifty-eight percent of respondents worry that their devices are vulnerable to security breaches, with this lack of trust being more pronounced among women. When asked if the benefits they get from these services outweigh their data privacy concerns, 54 percent of men said yes, compared to just 46 percent of women. As a result, a smaller proportion of women share the data from their smartwatch/fitness trackers with their health care providers: 43 percent of women compared to 57 percent of men.

Not addressing women's security concerns regarding these devices could lead to deeper health inequities, especially as use cases for wearable data expand and mature. For example, data collected from wearables allows individuals to participate in large-scale research studies on respiratory, heart, neurological, and liver diseases. What would the results of those studies look like if women were significantly underrepresented?

Tech companies need to give consumers more control and work with them on how their data gets used in order to bridge this trust gap. Considering the sensitivity of the data these devices gather, companies should enhance their data security measures on devices and for online services and make it easier for consumers to implement security measures. It will also help if they are more transparent about their data-handling practices, disclosing details such as how long they keep data and whether they share it with third parties and giving consumers easier ways to opt out or refine that use.

There are so many more areas and spaces where we, along with our allies, need to fight the good fight for women equity. But there is also no question that we have come so far in dismantling biases and stereotypes that used to limit women. Let's keep at it every day, not just on IWD so that we leave behind a truly limitless world for the girls of today.

As published in The Manila Times on 25 March 2024. The author is the Risk Advisory Leader of Deloitte Philippines.