The Impacts of the Pandemic on Women in Business

The pandemic has affected workers across the globe, but it has especially affected women in the workplace. Such challenges have sparked much-needed conversations in the business world about how the pandemic is impacting women and female identifying professionals.

Here are some ways women have struggled throughout the pandemic, and how employers can help bridge these gender gaps going forward, as addressed during this International Women's Day Forum hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

Responsibilities Like Child Care Have Been Falling Onto Women, Creating Stress and Calling for Workplace Flexibility

Margaret Keane, CEO of Synchrony, talked about how the pandemic has affected working women by adding the pressure of child care and other responsibilities that typically fall onto women.

“You had the whole system go upside down, and women had to really pick up a lot of those roles,” she said. “[Childcare] has come out to be a big challenge. There’s the expense of childcare, but also the idea of helping people with childcare.”

This has forced companies to increase their flexibility during the pandemic — and hopefully after as well. For example, Synchrony came up with the idea of a virtual summer camp for all ages, where high school and college students helped conduct activities throughout the day. Come fall, they also created an after-school program that offered tutoring for subjects including math and other activities for younger kids.

“It’s really been a big win across the board, particularly for parents who are trying to keep it all together,” said Keane.

Job Loss and Unemployment Has Been Disproportionately Felt by Women During the Pandemic

Dr. Mekala Krishnan, a partner at McKinsey Global Institute, noted that, according to research from July, “while women had accounted for about 39% of the workforce pre-pandemic, they accounted for about 54% of the job losses that we had experienced to date at that time.”

“Women seem to be returning to the workforce at similar rates to that of men, but there is still a gap,” Dr. Krishnan said. “There are losses that we don’t make up. That’s one kind of issue we need to manage.”

“Our analysis would suggest that if we don’t take action to manage some of the gender regressive effects, GDP in 2030 could be a trillion dollars lower,” Dr. Krishnan added. “However, if we act now … GDP in 2030 could be $13 trillion higher.”

To Encourage Women and Girls to Pursue Careers in STEM, There Must Be Positive Role Models in the Industry

“It’s no secret that women are grossly underrepresented in STEM careers, especially women of color,” said Cynthia Drivas, VP of partnerships and development at Litton Entertainment. “As the studies show, a lack of female role models is a driving factor in the gender factor in the gender gap in these STEM professions.”

That’s why Litton Entertainment, in partnership with Lyda Hill Philanthropies, created Mission Unstoppable, “a weekly series that presents female STEM professionals in innovative, fun ways in order to help educate, empower and offer role models to the next generation of innovators and STEM pioneers,” Drivas explained.

“Essentially by democratizing this STEM mission in our message, teens are embracing the content,” she noted. “We’ve seen huge growth on social platforms … [as] teens are consuming purpose-driven content.”

Women Entrepreneurs Don’t Receive the Same Funding Opportunities as Men

Ashley Edwards, founder and CEO of MindRight Health, mentioned how men often receive adequate funding for their business endeavors with little to no issues, while women aren’t typically as fortunate.

“For female founders and founders of color, if you want us to build rocket ships, we need rocket fuel,” said Edwards. “We find that there’s often that disconnect where expectations are not actually aligned with the benchmarks that are existing in the industry for fundraising.”

To see more women succeed in the workplace, we must address these inequalities and create a future where women are offered the same resources as men.