by Brianna Crandall — February 27, 2017 — International outsourcing association IAOP, in collaboration with global management consulting firm Avasant, recently announced the results of its Women Empowerment and Opportunity in Outsourcing survey.
The purpose of the survey was to gather data on the perceptions of gender equality, empowerment and opportunities for women in the outsourcing industry and identify where and how outsourcing has internationally empowered the lives of women, both inside and outside the workplace.
Dana Corbett, IAOP director, Research, Certification and Training, commented:
Gender equality is in the news a lot lately, for obvious reasons. Empowering women in the workforce means not only added control for women over their lives but increased flexibility and self-reliance, not to mention added business benefits such as profitability and growth.
The survey went to more than 50,000 outsourcing professionals around the world. Findings from this survey were presented in a powerful keynote main session during OWS17, February 19-22, in San Antonio, Texas. This session was led as an open forum panel encouraging summit delegates to engage in the conversation surrounding women empowerment, encouraging the exploration of initiatives being created or successfully executed, challenges faced going forward, etc.
Following this session, the conversation continues at the summit’s chapter headquarters, where first steps will be taken to create an IAOP chapter focusing on these matters, as well as engaging all delegates in this important conversation. With the goal of bringing equality to the workplace in every corner of the world, IAOP and Avasant plan future programs and opportunities based on these results.
Chitra Rajeshwari, executive director, Avasant Foundation, stated:
Gender equality has far-reaching benefits including providing an impetus to the global economy. Studies show that, given a chance, women prove to be excellent leaders. The Women Empowerment and Opportunity in Outsourcing Survey, developed jointly by Avasant and IAOP, indicates that while there have been positive strides made for women working in the outsourcing industry, there has been lack of a fairness and equality in compensation, leadership positions for well-qualified women, executive level engagement in supporting women, and training and skill development programs.
Encouraging and supporting women’s success, through addressing these issues and through awareness, integrity and fairness, could prove beneficial not only for them but will improve company profits and overall industry performance.
The survey results are available on the IAOP Web site with log-in.
