The automotive industry continues to grapple with diversity challenges as women continue to be underrepresented at all levels, according to the latest Women at the Wheel report.
The report, carried out by Deloitte and Automotive News, sheds some light on why the industry is still failing to attract and retain women at all levels. According to the study, women make up just a quarter of the automotive sector’s workforce. This is despite the fact that women make up about half of the labour force in the US, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Tesla’s recent diversity and inclusion report also confirmed that the company is overwhelmingly male, and more needs to be done to not only attract, but retain women in the industry, as reported.
DEALING WITH BIAS
One of the biggest problems in the industry is bias, according to the Women at the Wheel report. Almost all women surveyed (91%) believe that there is an industry bias towards men for leadership positions; compared to just half of men (47%) who share that belief.
Another problem is the lack of progress in the sector. Only 39% of women believe there have been positive changes in the sector’s attitude toward female professional employees in the last five years, compared to 64% of men. Basically, while men believe that things are improving for women, an increasing number of women feel it’s stagnating or getting worse over time. In fact, the number of women who believe there has been little change in advancing diversity has more than doubled from 15% in 2015 to 35% in 2020.
So, no wonder almost half of the women surveyed (45%) said they would move to a different industry if they were to start their career again today. In fact, nearly two-thirds of women (64%) cite a lack of diversity and inclusion as the number one reason they don’t consider a career in the automotive industry, compared to just 22% of men.
LACK OF PROGRESS
The lack of positive changes toward women employees, however, is having a detrimental impacting on the industry’s ability to attract and retain a diverse workforce as women are considering moving to other sectors that are more focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, and offer better work/life balance and promotion opportunities.
In fact, many of the women in the industry said if they were to start their career today, they would explore the high-tech (30%) or health care (20%) industries, as they are perceived as leading sectors for attracting and retaining a diverse workforce.
According to Mary Beth Vander Schaaf, Managing Editor of Automotive News, “The study shows a quarter of the men don’t see the business benefit of having diverse leadership. The bright side is the majority of men do understand the value in diversity. Including input from people with different perspectives leads to better decisions. During this transformative time, auto industry leaders should put the pedal to the metal in their efforts to attract and retain women.”
DIVERSITY DISCONNECT
Not only does the report reveal that men and women have distinct opinions about diversity within their organisations, but there also is a disconnect when it comes to factors that most contribute to a lack of diversity in leadership positions. For example, nine in 10 women note that an industry bias towards men contributes to a lack of diversity, while men believe that this is due to a lack of qualified candidates (39%). Additionally, although 60% of women have a senior management position in mind as their ultimate career goal, only two-thirds see a clear path to get there, compared to 75% of men.
When asked what makes a leader successful in the automotive industry, 46% of women surveyed cite a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, compared to only 26% of men. More women than men also believe there are benefits associated with a diverse leadership team, including better decision making (88% of women compared to 55% of men) and improved financial performance (42% of women compared to 21% of men). Moreover, a quarter of men (26%) don’t see any business benefit associated with creating a diverse leadership team. In addition, significantly more women (70%) than men (40%) believe minorities are underrepresented among their company’s senior executives.
SETTING THE TONE AT THE TOP
“As the auto industry continues to be challenged by a deepening skills gap, diversity, equity and inclusion have never been more important. Yet, setting the right tone of inclusivity at the top can be an uphill climb when 70% of women believe minorities are underrepresented among senior leadership teams,” stated Jody Stidham, Managing Director, Deloitte Consulting LLP.
However, if the industry is to succeed in not only attracting and retaining women, then companies need to start translating the value of diversity, equity and inclusion into impactful actions, starting from the top. “This is a unique time in the automotive industry as companies realign businesses for the future in the face of major disruptive forces, while at the same time, coping with near-term economic headwinds,” noted Stidham. “The challenge for most auto companies lies in translating a nod of the head to the value of diversity, equity and inclusion into impactful actions.”
Click here for more information about the report.
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