What does your lady data look like?
I was recently introduced to the concept of lady data. Actually I’d been fighting, asking to see lady data for years but I hadn’t given it a name. So here we are, I’m sharing with you all as I think it’s an important concept that needs raising.
Lady data doesn’t always have to act in women’s favour, but valid data points are important to support decision making.
As my passion is around getting more girls in to STEM and providing a pipeline for more women in STEM careers, I like Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) . They do an annual study, one has just been released:
I also want to see more women in senior positions, here is some new data on this:
As well as researching external benchmarks there are questions you can ask HR in your own business, (they may say no to providing it - but no harm in asking) for example;
* What % of women are in each of the job group level - if you see a decline through seniority, why is this, can you pull a team together to influence it?
* What % of maternity returners go on to leave the organisation within 12 months?
* What is the ratio of men and women in the company (even better by class of job)
* If there has been a change of policy (for example no homeworking, offshoring of roles) how does this effect those stats?
I truly believe that the reality is, if we don’t start asking for lady data, many decisions will be made without an understanding of the consequences. You have an opportunity to be the voice at the table and I hope I have inspired you to find your own lady data.
If you want to join the discussion, come and join The Career Mum Facebook group , open to men and women, parent or not. Supporting and empowering women to reach their potential by connecting them with a growing global community and sharing resources.
Thanks for reading,
Amanda@thecareermum.co.uk