AAUW’s Kim Churches Addresses Actress Regina King’s Vow to Hire More Women – And Outlines How Other Industries Can Do the Same
In her acceptance speech after winning best supporting actress in a motion picture at Sunday night’s Golden Globes, actress Regina King vowed that women will make up 50 percent of the staff for any of her projects in the next two years – and urged other industries to follow her lead.
Kim Churches, CEO of the American Association of University Women, is available to comment on this critically important goal and to outline steps that employers in any industry, whether for profit or non-profit, can take to achieve gender diversity.
“It just makes good business sense. Employers need to go beyond values statements and platitudes to take concrete action toward ensuring their workforces have equitable gender representation,” Churches said. “A crucial first step is making a commitment to doing so by establishing quantitative measures and bold goals, just as Regina King is doing.
“Organizations should also be doing regular audits on pay and promotion to get a true sense of how well women are represented at all levels of their business. When or if they find inequities, employers can and should quickly adopt best practices and policies to proactively correct them.”
Churches points that gender equity is not only good for women, it’s good for business. “Research has repeatedly documented that a more inclusive workforce reduces turnover, increases employee engagement and performance, boosts a company’s reputation, allows them to be in closer touch with their customer base—and ultimately enhances their bottom line.”
The success of the #TimesUp movement in raising awareness about workplace sexual harassment beyond Hollywood bodes well for the success of #TimesUpX2 in making progress toward gender inclusivity in all industries, Churches said.
