Gender equality in creative leadership roles

Creative Directors that are not male can be rare to see in the wild. According to a range of online reports over half of designers identify as female. This is a great stat for equality in our industry, but doesn’t seem to translate proportionately into leadership positions. Approximately 29% of Creative Leadership positions are populated by females which is actually a comparatively good stat when we look at other industries, but it's still not equal, and personally, I would like to know why! Actually we all know why (side eyes at the patriarchy), but let's unpack it a bit, look locally, and maybe let a bit of feminist rage out together (men and non-binary folk can have feminist rage too btw, you are all welcome on this journey).

Before we dive further into the numbers, let's review the benefits of equality and equity in the workplace and leadership. Embracing diversity within the workplace has proven to have positive effects across almost anything that matters - productivity, creativity, innovation, retention, talent attraction, market value, and of course, profit. The Leaders Research Institute even go so far as to state that women in leadership positions can ‘triple your company’s revenue, double its profitability, and increase the engagement of half your workforce’, and Forbes magazine states that ‘companies with more women on their boards outperform those without by a significant margin, and organisations with greater gender diversity among senior leaders are more profitable’.

How does New Zealand fit into all of this? We see ourselves as a pretty chill nation, do we stack up against the global averages? A quick survey of our Octave design team reveals that 50% of our designers identify as female, and if I count myself, that bumps it up to 60% - so our numbers check out against the global average.

Calculating the average for Creative Directors in the New Zealand industry was a bit more time consuming. I looked to the New Zealand Best Awards website and started counting Creative Directors. Out of the 2023 Digital finalist projects, approximately 24% of the Creative Directors listed have female gendered names. Out of a sample of 100 projects from the 2023 Graphic finalists, 30% of the Creative Directors listed have female gendered names. I’m no statistician, and I’ve made some assumptions around gendered names, but these numbers still tell an interesting story.  New Zealand is pretty close to the global stats, but it's still not a narrative of equality, which means we have some work to do.

These numbers need to get better. We want change! We want better representation, better diversity and strong female leaders at the top table! We want equality in respect, opportunities, and rewards! At the same time, we don't want to battle for our place at the table, prove ourselves incessantly, or feel the need to emulate male behaviour. We refuse to accept the role of the outsider or the lucky one, and we shouldn't feel compelled to demonstrate knowledge about traditionally masculine interests like sports or boats (unless we like sports and boats). Here are some thoughts and reminders to elevate the smart and talented women among us to into the leadership roles they deserve:

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Be visible

If you are a female creative leader, be visible. Get yourself out there. Let yourself be the token female so other women can see you lead. Write a statistically dubious blog post that points out the gaps in our industry. Be proud of your achievements and don’t hide.

Be on the lookout 

People of any gender can be on the lookout for inequality and microaggressions. If someone wrongly attributes a woman's idea or comment to a male then point it out. If a woman is underestimated or criticised because of perceived feminine traits, don’t stand for it! Microaggressions are sneaky and you can’t always catch them, but if you feel a little uncomfortable, like a comment is a bit off - it probably is. Trust your gut and call out bad behaviour.

Be bold

Young female designers, this is for you. Always ask for more. You are worth it, and more than likely, your male counterparts have already asked for that pay bump, or promotion, or updated laptop. Do your research - there are some really interesting and enlightening studies out there on how males and females approach job advertisement criteria that will help you form an understanding of how you might be undercutting and underselling yourself. Don’t be too humble when it comes to what you know you are good at, you can be confident in yourself and not an asshole - they are not behaviours that have to go hand in hand.

Tip the scales

Sorry team, but equality isn’t enough right now. Sometimes we have to tip the scales in our favour to make up for lost time. There are gender differences built into society; the way women are brought up, educated, and treated in general, that make us believe we don’t have the innate tendencies or skills to do the same things that males can. Until we can shake off those shackles, women might need to be given the benefit of the doubt, a boost, an opportunity and the balance tipped in our favour to make up for the things that hold us back.

Encourage and embolden

If you’re a female in a leadership position, you’ll have seen first hand the stark difference in how male and female identifying people operate. Men (generally) don’t need to be told they are worthy, that they deserve a pay rise, or that their voice is valued. Women do. Encourage the women you lead to speak up, back themselves, and be confident in their voices. Stand behind them, and if anyone tries to speak over them or repeat what they’ve said like they didn’t say it - shut that shit down.

Females are not the only disadvantaged group that needs our allyship and energy, but they are a group that I can speak for from personal experience, and I want to change the status quo for the next gen of designers and creative leaders. I need you to stop and think about what you consider normal, the actions and behaviours that you accept as inevitable. Observe, think, research, and make change. Be a bold female leader, be an ally, and take heart that we are all in this together.

This article is written 100% by humans. The image is created by AI and then photoshopped a wee bit.

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