Happy International Women's Day from Bunnies by the Bay!
International Women’s Day is here! Started in 1911, International Women’s Day is an opportunity to lift up the accomplishments of women across the globe, to improve the representation and visibility of women in society. The 2021 International Women’s Day theme is #ChooseToChallenge, which encourages people of all gender identities to call out gender inequality and challenge the places where gender bias exists.
Gender Bias Still Exists in Business
In 2015, the New York Times published an article that noted that fewer large companies were run by women than by men named John. By the end of 2016, the Johns had moved to second place, but not by much. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, there’s still 19 male CEOs for every one female CEO. Change is slow, but it is happening. We’re seeing bigger movement in small business and entrepreneurial spaces, which makes sense because these spaces are always at the forefront of change.
Closing the Gender Gap is Good for Business
When women are excluded from decision making roles in upper management, there is a great untapped potential that business is leaving on the table. These people have diverse strengths, new ideas, and different perspectives to bring into upper management, and these things are the seeds of innovation. Success in business, now more than ever, relies on innovation, and a failure to tap this talent pool leaves the business world as a whole poorer. Closing the gender gap, tapping into this resource, is good for all of us; business leaders, employees, and customers.
How to Close the Gender Gap
Closing the gender gap in business may seem like a difficult and complicated problem, and it is. But there are some things we as a business community can do to help narrow the gap.
One of those things is to have more women in decision making roles in business. This visibly encourages women and girls to seek these positions in business, by showing that it is, in fact, possible for women to fill these roles.
One of the spaces where we see this happening is in small business and entrepreneurial spaces. From 1979 to 2018, the number of businesses owned by women increased by nearly 3,000%. In 2018, women made up 40% of new entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship allows women to charge what they’re worth, when in the existing business world, they’re often paid less than their male peers. It also allows women to advance more quickly than they would by climbing the corporate ladder.
Bunnies by the Bay is Women Owned and Operated
Bunnies by the Bay is proud to be a business that was founded by women and has women in the highest decision-making positions. This provides a good example for the female business leaders of tomorrow, and establishes the power that women can wield in the business world. The heart of the Bunnies by the Bay mission relies on connection, family, and care, and is inclusive of all genders. Our founders and business leaders are at the core of that mission, to Give Glad Dreams. We #ChooseToChallenge the idea that business is a male space.