Women’s Empowerment: A Guide for Business

#1 Social empowerment

From a social business perspective, female empowerment in organizations is understood as an active commitment to reducing gender inequalities and promoting an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable culture. It is not only about complying with diversity standards but also about integrating gender equality as a strategic pillar within Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

This approach seeks to create shared value. It benefits women, strengthens the organizational culture, and improves the company’s reputation and competitiveness.

Example: Mentoring programs and accompaniment and support initiatives such as the Esade Women Initiative.

#2 Economic empowerment

From an economic and salary perspective, female empowerment in organizations focuses on ensuring pay equality, the elimination of gender pay gaps, and equal access to growth and remuneration opportunities. This involves implementing transparent pay policies, fair compensation practices, and strategies that recognize the economic value of female talent.

This vision is based on the premise that reducing wage disparities is not only a matter of social justice, but also improves productivity, reduces turnover, and maximizes companies’ financial returns.

Example: Companies that audit their pay gap and establish transparency policies.

#3 Educational and developmental empowerment

From an education and development perspective, female empowerment in organizations focuses on providing women with the tools, skills, and opportunities needed for career growth. This involves implementing training, mentoring, and leadership-development programs specifically designed to address the barriers women face in the workplace.

The aim is to eliminate gender biases, facilitate access to positions of responsibility, and maximize the potential of female talent within companies.

Example: Facilitate the implementation of management development programs for women in the company.

Why is female empowerment key for companies?

Female empowerment is not only an ethical and social imperative but also a smart business strategy. Companies that promote gender equality and female leadership tend to have better financial performance as well as more innovation, better operational efficiency and increased access to new markets. Other benefits include:

• Greater capacity for innovation, thanks to diversity of thought
• Increased productivity and profitability
• Improved corporate culture and team engagement
• Greater attraction of investments and talent
• Greater competitiveness in the global market
• Increased profits
• Greater connection with stakeholders and improved reputation

In short, promoting women’s participation in company decision-making is not only a matter of equity. Female leadership is a great competitive advantage and brings tangible benefits to organizations.

Women’s empowerment activities in organizations

Female empowerment initiatives not only benefit women but also strengthen the entire company. Some strategies that companies can implement include:

• Training programs in leadership and soft skills
• Mentoring and coaching programs for women
• Technical training programs in strategic areas
• Networking and female communities to foster collaboration
• Talks and inspiration panels to motivate and share experiences
• Creating inclusive and equality-based work environments
• Giving visibility to the achievements and contributions of women in the business environment
• Career and professional development plans that align women’s individual goals with those of the organization
• Offering equal opportunities for promotions and access to leadership positions
• Actions to eliminate the wage gap, discrimination and bias in hiring processes
• Labor flexibility policies to facilitate work-life balance

And, to be consistent with all this, implementation, evaluation, and monitoring of equality programs.

Challenges of female empowerment

Despite outstanding advances in recent years, there are still challenges, such as:

1. The low representation of women on boards of directors:

According to Grant Thornton’s Women in Business Report 2024, globally, the percentage of women in senior management is 33.5%. For its part, the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report points out that the presence of women in leadership positions in Spain is 34.5%.

2. Unconscious biases in hiring processes:

A study included in an article in Psicosmart, revealed that 78% of recruiters admit to having made decisions influenced by biases.

3. The difficulty of balancing work and personal life:

The McKinsey & Company Women in the Workplace 2023 report found that 43% of women believe that a lack of flexibility at work negatively affects their professional growth.

4. Offensive against Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies by right-wing governments:

Donald Trump’s recent crackdown on DEI programs is an example of the new challenges faced in terms of women’s empowerment. As Patricia Cauqui, co-director of the Esade Gender Monitor, states in an Esade article on the global setback of diversity, equality, and inclusion, “With Trump leading the narrative, DEI policies are under attack both in public administration and the private sector.”

It should be noted that companies such as Meta and Walmart have already reduced or eliminated their DEI programs, due to legal, political, and economic pressures.

However, there are still inspiring examples of companies committed to women’s empowerment.

Inspiring examples of female empowerment

• Google has implemented global mentorship programs and support networks for women in tech.
• IBM promotes diversity with STEM training initiatives for women and pay equity policies.
• Unilever has integrated gender equality into its entire business strategy, achieving 50% women in management positions.
• The technology company NTT DATA Spain was recognized in 2024 for its specific programs that promote female leadership and encourage the development of women.
• Esade is the academic partner of the CEOE’s women’s leadership programmes, including the Promociona Project and the Progresa Project. Esade also has the Women Empowerment Club, a platform comprising members of the Esade community who contribute to gender equality and the empowerment of women in companies and organizations.

These cases show that change is possible when equality becomes a strategic priority.

The importance of education to promote female talent

Education is a key tool for women’s empowerment, as it provides the skills and knowledge necessary to gain positions and access spaces of responsibility in business environments.

Programs such as the Bachelor in Social Entrepreneurship & Business Innovation for Social Impact or the Masters in Management at Esade allow young women to develop an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset during their time at university, preparing them to drive real change in society.

Similarly, Esade’s Spanish-language Program for Management Development, MBA programs and Executive Education programs promote female leadership in the corporate sphere, offering strategic training to women who are active in business in order to help them access high-level positions.

The future of leadership is inclusive. If you want to boost your professional growth or for your company to be part of the change, Esade’s programs are your best option to empower female talent.

* Source: Mckinsey & Company Report 2023.