Calgary’s top businesswomen cite slow progress as gender gaps persist

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Engineers are usually a cussed bunch, Jennifer Massig says. And she or he loves them for it.

“Everybody tells them that they’re mistaken, they usually’re effective with being proper,” she says. “It’s nice as a result of it permits an engineer to not be negatively influenced after they consider that they’re standing for one thing they need to in the case of public security and the atmosphere.”

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However that very same intuition can usually make them retreat into conventional practices — a trait she believes has lengthy stymied progress towards reaching gender parity in engineering. “It’s fairly dangerous,” she says of gender variety throughout Calgary’s engineering sectors.

Massig began her wastewater and stormwater remedy firm, Magna Engineering Companies Inc., as a single mom with two kids. Partly out of necessity, she’s structured the corporate with a four-day work week that emphasizes work hours between 9 a.m. and three p.m., whereas workers can full the remainder of their required hours in hybrid.

That, plus a predominantly feminine management, have resulted in Massig’s firm reaching substantial gender parity, making her an outlier in her business.

It’s a big purpose why Massig is one in every of a handful of ladies being celebrated Friday on the Calgary Influential Ladies in Enterprise Awards (CIWB), the place she can be awarded the small/medium enterprise distinction for 2024.

Alberta one in every of Canada’s poorest performers in wage parity

It’s the awards’ fifth yr, which acknowledge ladies in giant enterprise, small and medium enterprise, skilled companies and social enterprise roles, in addition to the lifetime achievement award.

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This yr’s recipients have “set a tone and tempo of sturdy management and haven’t backed away from challenges and have addressed them head-on,” stated Nuvyn Peters, CEO of Axis Connects, the nonprofit internet hosting Friday’s awards. The group was created to advance gender variety in Calgary’s enterprise neighborhood.

A latest examine from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce discovered Alberta stays one of many nation’s poorest performers in the case of wage parity. Ladies in administration positions, for instance, make simply 81 cents for each greenback a person earns in Alberta. In different provinces reminiscent of Quebec and Prince Edward Island, the wage hole has turn out to be nearly nonexistent.

“Firms must be monitoring and addressing modifications within the gender variety panorama — it’s not sufficient to take a look at the C-Suite and say, how can we get extra ladies right here, if we aren’t trying on the expertise pipeline,’” she stated.

Axis is at the moment working in partnership with Enbridge Inc. to check gender promotion bias and why ladies are selecting to depart the workforce. The partnership continues to be in early days, Peters stated.

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‘Be sure that we’re open about it’

Lorraine Mitchelmore, former president and nation chair of Shell Canada, is that this yr’s recipient of the lifetime achievement award. She now serves as an unbiased director to a slew of main organizations together with Suncor, Trans Mountain, BMO and AIMCo.

In her greater than three a long time within the vitality business, Mitchelmore has been the lone lady within the boardroom as a rule, she stated.

“After all I did (discover), however I ploughed by means of it, and that’s what you must do,” she stated in an interview.

Massive corporations have lately positioned heavier emphasis on bringing extra ladies into the workforce, although the variety of ladies within the C-suite stay few. And whereas progress has total been constructive, Mitchelmore stated, “It’s a slow-moving machine.

“I believe the biases are nonetheless there … it’s societal, proper — it’s not going to go away in a single day,” she stated. “There’ll in all probability be gaps for a very long time coming, however I believe crucial factor is to guarantee that we’re open about it.”

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Totally different work constructions can present advantages

In the meantime, some corporations like Massig’s have labored to facilitate a extra viable office for moms.

Magna’s construction, between its versatile work schedule and feminine management, has perpetuated variety with out requiring a concerted effort to rent extra ladies, Massig stated.

“After I was one worker, I used to be 100 per cent feminine. After I was two workers, I used to be 100 per cent feminine. Three workers, two-thirds feminine,” she stated. “I believe that ranging from that base level actually helped us on that variety pathway.”

The 2024 CIWB winners are:

• Lifetime Achievement: Lorraine Mitchelmore, previously President and Nation Chair/EVP Shell Canada, now serving as an Impartial Director for a number of organizations, together with Suncor, BMO, AIMCo, Cheniere Vitality, Shell, Catalyst, and Trans Mountain.
• Massive Enterprise: Doreen Cole, EVP of Downstream at Cenovus.
• Small/Medium Enterprise: Jennifer Massig, CEO of Magna Engineering Companies.
• Skilled Companies: Alicia Quesnel, Managing Accomplice at BDP LLP.
• Social Enterprise: Wendy Beauchesne, CEO of Alberta Most cancers Basis.
• Male Champion: Bryan de Lottinville, Founder and Chief Evangelist of Benevity.

mscace@postmedia.com
X: @mattscace67

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