Ambassador April H. Foley

Remarks at the "Making the Business Case for Gender Diversity" Conference

Organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy and Morgan Stanley 

Budapest
October 4, 2007

Gustav, thank you for that welcome.  I appreciate AmCham’s leadership on this issue.  

I am extremely grateful to Morgan Stanley for coming up with the idea for today’s event.  I appreciate everything you have done in organizing and sponsoring it.  Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes spoke to AmCham Monday morning about why good corporate citizenship is good for business.  So, hats off to Morgan Stanley for setting this shining example.  

A Conference like this one can only succeed with stimulating and motivational speakers whose commitment to equal opportunity for women is shown in both word and deed. 

So thank you to all of the enlighted leaders who agreed to speak today.  I am delighted that we have such a fabulous roster of high-ranking and prominent Hungarian leaders.

And I am so happy to see that this is a topic that is supported across political party lines.

To our audience, I am very grateful that men and women alike have taken time to benefit from today’s Conference.  You prove by your presence here, that gender diversity in the workforce is not only a "women’s issue."  Men must be part of the process and part of the solution.  The leadership of men on women’s issues is absolutely critical.  

I am here today because I am passionate about the empowerment of women.  

I firmly believe that there are few things in life as exhilarating as professional achievement.  Women should not be denied the profound satisfaction of reaching their full potential as professionals.  This includes the opportunity to advance to the highest levels in their chosen fields, if that is what they want and they have the talent. 

The advancement of women is more than a question of individual rights and opportunities.  It is one of economic necessity.  

Governments, businesses, and societies are enriched to the extent that they draw on the wisdom, experience, and economic contributions of all citizens, including women.  

And there is good empirical evidence that as the participation of women in business grows, economies grow.  

The World Bank estimates that countries can increase their GDP growth by one percent just by increasing women in the workforce.  GDP can increase by up to 19 percent when more women own their own businesses.

The U.S. economy remains the strongest in the world, thanks to America’s entrepreneurs and business leaders.

And guess what!

In the United States, women-owned businesses account for nearly half of all privately held firms.  American women are opening businesses at twice the rate of American men.

The United States has been successful in this regard, in part, because the government passed supporting legislation on equal wages and against discrimination.  Proactive programs by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Small Business Administration provided financing assistance, networking, mentoring, and training support, which have propelled women forward in the business world.

Women now account for 46 percent of the U.S. labor force.  The increase in U.S. women in the workforce has contributed significantly to U.S. economic growth over the last 20 years.  But not all the news is good.  Sadly, the "glass ceiling" still exists.  

Only 2.2 percent of chief executive officers in the top 500 U.S. companies are women.  2.2 percent.  That’s stunningly low.  We are still striving to improve that in the United States.

Here in Hungary, there is good news.  According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2006, Hungarian women are at least as well-educated as men.  In fact, statistics show that more Hungarian women hold college or university degrees than men.  

However, this does not seem to translate into equal numbers of women in senior levels of employment. 

According to research conducted by Hungary’s Social Innovation Foundation in 2002, roughly 60 percent of the respondent women feel disadvantaged to men when it comes to career advancement and income.

So what can be done to tackle this common problem?  First, with education:

• Families and communities can start the process by giving young women the courage and confidence they need to pursue higher aspirations. 
• Universities can help by providing women the right education to meet their professional objectives.  They can encourage women to enter fields that have historically been the province of men.  For example, almost every country could benefit from more women engineers.
• And women can help themselves by learning how to express themselves assertively, understanding that putting themselves forward for that promotion is not a sign of being overly aggression, but the result of thinking bigger about what their skills can contribute at higher levels.  

We also must consider what steps can be taken to eliminate barriers to the full participation of women.  This is a hot topic in Hungary today.  I’m sure we’ll hear more about it from other speakers.  

The benefits of gender diversity in the workforce are clear.  According to the Network of Executive Women: 

• Greater gender diversity expands the executive talent pool,
• aligns companies more closely with their primary customers,
• improves productivity, morale and employee retention rates, and
• reduces grievances against employers.

According to the Stanford Business School, other benefits include improved understanding of the marketplace, enhanced creativity and problem-solving ability.  

Several companies in America have taken these findings to heart and begun a variety of programs to enable the upward mobility of women.  For example:

GE has a Women’s Network that is also active here in Hungary.  I met with them, and I was impressed with their efforts to support women in their career growth.  

IBM Hungary has a women’s resources program that tracks the number of women in management positions and encourages others to seek them.

Pfizer is committed to building a diverse workforce that fosters more creative and innovative thinking. 

Almost 70 percent of U.S.-based global companies have formal mentoring programs, and 75 percent have at least one employee network in place.  Eighty percent of companies have family-friendly, flexible work policies, including reduced or part-time work schedules, maternity and/or paternity leave, telecommuting, and job sharing.  

Recent OECD statistics show that, in Hungary, only 4.2 percent of the women and 1.5 percent of men work part time.  

More part-time employment opportunities in Hungary could offer a means by which women can remain in the workforce, contributing to their company while caring for their family. 

Of course, each company and organization must adapt to the culture in which they operate.  Some programs that work in the United States may not work in Hungary. 

In a few moments, we will hear from Ilene Lang, CEO of the Catalyst Social Research Firm, I am thrilled that Ilene Lang is here.  She has been a real trailblazer.  Catalyst has been a major force for positive change for women executives.  Ilene and the business panel will share with us their experiences on the effects of promoting women to the highest ranks. 

We would like this conference to be not just a discussion, but an incubator of practical steps.  We hope it will generate ideas that can be taken away and considered in your own workplace.

I’m excited to be with you and look forward to a productive afternoon.  Thank you.