the mif blog

Let's start with a simple puzzle. Using only the information provided below, can you determine whether the final statement is true or false? 

If women make up half of the population and almost half of professionals in Latin America and the Caribbean, why are not more women represented in senior management positions in businesses in the region? A study recently published by McKinsey & Co., Women in the Workplace 2015, estimated that in the United States, based on developments in the last three years, it will take 100 years before we have gender parity at the "C" levels—named for their acronyms in English (CIO, CFO, CEO)—which are the highest-level executive positions. The outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean appears to be even worse, given that its current share of women in management positions is only 6.4%, or one-third of the 19 percent share in the United States.

You could play a game to find the seven differences in photographs of boards of chambers of commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean. At first glance, they all look very similar: white men between 50 and 60 years old, wearing suits and ties. A quick review of the composition of boards or councils of seven chambers of commerce in the region (in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, and Peru) reveals that 91% of their members are men and only 9% are women.