Accenture has released a women digital fluency report that has pessimistically stated that the Irish workplace is unlikely to become gender equal until 2065.
Accenture has launched a report entitled Getting to Equal: How Digital is Helping Close the Gender Gap at Work to mark International Women’s Day.
Ranking 31 nations across the globe in terms of their achievement and work towards creating a workplace where no inequality exists, Ireland was ranked a not-terrible eighth ahead of Switzerland and just behind Spain.
The rankings, which charted each nation’s levels of digital fluency, education, employment and advancement, saw the US as the most-equal workplace of the 31 nations, with India ranked the worst by a considerable distance.
However, the report that suggests Ireland – and many other developed nations – won’t see an equal workplace until 2065.
The Accenture report does add, though, that if governments and businesses can double the speed at which women become frequent users of digital technology, gender equality in the workplace could be reached by 2040.
Greatest disparity at executive level
Focusing on a very familiar issue, the report highlighted that, while progress is being made generally towards an increase in digital fluency among women in the workplace, the same can’t be said generally at an executive level, or even in terms of pay-grade.
Men are still, by far, the dominant earners by household for all three generations, but suggestions indicate that this will change as more millennial women and digital natives move into management.
Accenture’s research found that, in Ireland, four-in-10 millennial and Gen X women surveyed aspire to be in leadership positions.
1,200 attendees are expected to attend Accenture’s International Women’s Day event, which is in its 12th year, in the Convention Centre Dublin this morning, with members from the Inspirefest 2016 team also attending on the day.
Inspirefest 2016
Inspirefest, which has Accenture Ireland as a headline sponsor, is an international sci-tech event that also celebrates and promotes diversity and inclusion in STEM.
Speaking of today’s event, Accenture Ireland’s head of inclusion and diversity, Michelle Cullen, said: “This event brings together some of the leading Irish women from many walks of life to share their stories and perspectives across a variety of topics.
“In this centenary year, we are keen to honour and celebrate the achievements made by women in business and society generally and to turn our gaze to the future.”
Inspirefest is Silicon Republic’s international event connecting sci-tech professionals passionate about the future of STEM. Join us again from 30 June to 2 July 2016 for fresh perspectives on leadership, innovation and diversity. Get your Early Bird tickets now.
Office image via Shutterstock
