The FINANCIAL -- Despite important progress with respect to women’s representation in the workplace globally, their advancement to leadership positions remains elusive, according to panelists and participants of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu’s second annual International Women’s Day webcast.

More than 650 participants from 35 countries tuned in to hear panelists, including Futhi Mtoba, Chairwoman of Deloitte Southern Africa; Clara Gaymard, President and CEO, GE France; and Gabriela Hernandez Cardoso, Undersecretary of Communications, Department of Communications and Transportation, Mexico, discuss the upward movement of women in the workplace, and the challenges they encounter.

According to the panelists, there is still a large discrepancy between women’s representation in mid-level, managerial positions versus leadership roles. That sentiment was echoed by the audience polled during the webcast, of which less than half (43.1 percent) believe there has been significant advancement of women into leadership positions in their regions of the world in the past ten years.

Despite this discrepancy, one area where women appear to be advancing further is in the public sector. According to the panelists, women in the public sector in both South Africa and Mexico have made strides in advancing to leadership positions. Although the private sector has not followed suit in most cases, the panelists are hopeful this progress in the public sector will have a positive impact on the advancement of women in the private sector. Likewise, a majority of the polled participants (66.9 percent) indicated that they believe having more women leaders in the public sector has a positive impact on the advancement of women in the private sector.

“The advancement of women to leadership roles leads to changes that benefit women, men, and their public and private sector employers,” said Jim Wall, DTT Chief Diversity Officer and Global Managing Director, Talent. “Despite important progress, the efforts toward advancing and empowering women are by no means finished. Businesses and governments must work together to ensure women are represented and their voices heard.”

The IWD webcast was organized by DTT’s Global Retention of Women (GROW) Council. GROW leads a worldwide effort to increase representation of women in leadership positions at Deloitte through mentoring programs, skills-building workshops, and networking sessions. These efforts are designed to help Deloitte women enhance the skills and connections they need to progress in their careers.

Diversity and inclusion initiatives are an integral part of the Deloitte business strategy. Deloitte aims to create a culture that is a magnet for diverse talent by harnessing strength from a myriad of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to the benefit of Deloitte member firm clients and the organization as a whole.

“At Deloitte, our member firms’ ability to be successful and to serve clients in the marketplace is 100 percent dependent upon our ability to attract and retain the best talent,” says Vassi Naidoo, DTT Global Managing Partner, Talent. “Diversity is not about one specific program or initiative. It is a fundamental way of doing business, and it is central to the core of our organization.”

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