For decades, workplaces have invested in women’s leadership programs, mentoring, networking and confidence workshops. Many have created real value, building skills, relationships and support. Yet progress towards gender equality remains stubbornly slow.
Perhaps that is because we have spent too much time asking what women need to do differently, and not enough time asking what our systems need to do differently.
In my day job, I lead large-scale organisational transformations. One principle in transformation is simple: when a system repeatedly produces an outcome you do not want, you do not keep asking people to work harder or behave differently. You examine the system. Where is it failing? What does it reward? Who holds power? What does the evidence show? What needs redesigning?
We need to bring that same discipline to gender equality.
Director, Australian Gender Equality Council
Look beyond the headline number
Increasing the number of women in leadership matters. Representation broadens perspectives and challenges outdated ideas about leadership. But progress can be real and still be insufficient. Better numbers should give us confidence to keep going, not permission to stop looking.
Women are not one group, and gender is never the only factor shaping opportunity. Culture, ethnicity, disability, socioeconomic background and other identities shape who gains access, is heard and progresses. A rising number does not mean every group of women is rising with it.
We need to disaggregate the data and ask: who progresses, is sponsored and receives career-defining work? Who is seen as leadership material? Who still lacks a seat at the table?
Representation tells us who is present. Equity asks who has opportunity, influence and power, and whether those are shared fairly across all groups of women.
Equality is not only about progression. Systems shape who is paid fairly, whose work is valued, who can use flexibility without penalty, who feels safe to speak and whose ideas are recognised. More women in leadership matters, including for closing the gender pay gap. But representation alone does not guarantee equality in pay, safety, job design or everyday experience.
Once we look beyond the headline number, the next question is not which program to launch. It is where, precisely, the system is producing unequal outcomes.
Diagnose the barrier before choosing the solution
If women are recruited but do not progress, recruitment may not be the main barrier. If they reach middle management but not executive leadership, examine promotion, succession and sponsorship. If they progress but leave, examine culture, safety, flexibility and other factors shaping retention.
Too often, organisations focus on attracting women when the real constraint appears later. If evidence points to unequal sponsorship, visible assignments or succession conversations, another development program will not fix it. Talent reviews, opportunity allocation and leadership accountability must change.
Changing the intake alone cannot solve a problem occurring further down the system. Recruitment cannot resolve a succession problem on its own, and leadership training cannot compensate for a culture that makes flexibility unsafe.
If people who use flexibility receive fewer visible assignments or are seen as less committed, the policy exists without changing the system. The answer is not only teaching women to negotiate more confidently. It is also changing how work is allocated, commitment judged and performance recognised.
The discipline is straightforward: identify the outcome, examine the evidence, understand the root cause, redesign the system and measure again. Solve the problem the evidence reveals, not the one easiest to name.
Put accountability where the power sits
Redesign works only when responsibility sits with those controlling the decisions. Gender equality and People and Culture teams play a crucial role, but recruitment, promotion, succession and work allocation happen across the organisation.
Opportunity is shaped by who leaders hire, sponsor and assign challenging work, and by succession and promotion decisions. Culture is shaped by what is rewarded, whose voice carries weight and whether concerns can be raised safely.
Men, particularly those who hold decision-making power, must be active participants in this work rather than observers or allies at the margins.
Systems change when equitable decisions and behaviours become expected, measured and normal, rather than exceptional.
The people with the authority to change the systems must also be accountable for the outcomes.
Measure whether the outcome changes
Accountability is meaningful only when leaders are measured on changed outcomes. We would not judge another major transformation by meetings held, workshops delivered or people trained if the underlying outcome remained the same. So why measure gender equality that way?
Organisations do not need the longest list of initiatives. They need the right interventions in the places creating the greatest inequality. Data creates visibility. Accountability drives action. But systems are what create lasting change.
So, take a look at your organisation’s gender equality efforts and ask three questions:
- How many are designed to help women navigate the existing system?
- How many are designed to change the system itself?
- Who is accountable if the outcome does not change?
Gender equality is not an HR initiative. It is a leadership responsibility. My challenge to organisations is simple: stop asking what women need to do differently. Start asking what your systems need to do differently. Then measure whether they actually do.
Reframing approaches to gender equality using the evidence
At this Gender Equality Insights, we discussed why organisations need to rethink their approach to gender equality and leadership—based on evidence, not assumptions.
Leverage our resources to boost your work
Find information about key definitions and the state of play for gender diversity in Australia, the business case for gender diversity and inclusion, leading practices for creating gender diverse and inclusive workplaces, case studies, and additional resources on gender equity.