Winning the Nobel Prize isn’t easy! However, calling oneself ‘Happiest being a detective in Economics’ is not a walk in the park either. That’s how the 77-year-old Harvard Professor, who won this year’s Nobel Prize refers to herself.
On 9th October 2023, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences and declared the winner - Claudia Goldin, in recognition for her groundbreaking research on gender gaps in women’s earnings. Goldin collected data spanning 200 years to establish her point. As The Economist observed, ‘Claudia Goldin’s work has overturned assumptions about gender equality.’ Notably, Goldin is only the third woman to be awarded the prestigious Nobel prize and is the first woman to have been awarded this as a solo winner!
But it’s not impossible to win against all odds - just as it isn’t impossible to have women leaders play a notable role at the helm of the insurance industry!
The value of diversity across niche segments including InsurTech is well-recognised today. We take a closer look at why Goldin’s win is important for everyone who works in the world of technology and insurance.
Recognising Women’s Leadership and Participation in the Insurance Sector
Let’s understand how the global insurance sector holds itself up in enabling gender parity. A McKinsey report adds a few pointers in this regard:
Women clinch 45% of entry-level roles in the insurance sector
In the insurance sector, around 18% of women hold C-suite designations
In any organisation, it is a well-established norm that the executive leadership sets the tone at the top to highlight that diversity is a key priority and that all succession plans and candidate profiling will include women.
Let’s look at a few notable examples from the global insurance segment.
From a global insurance scenario, consider Amanda Blanc, who tops the list as the Group CEO of Aviva plc. She also sits on the UK Prime Minister’s Business Council and the Board of the Geneva Association. Voted twice as the UK Insurer’s ‘CEO’s CEO of the Year’ and Forbes List of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, Blanc’s success story demonstrates how women working in the insurance sector have built successful careers!
Nurturing a Women-Centric Leadership Pipeline
Globally, the figures pertaining to women leaders across sectors are varied across different countries. In 2020, the number of women CEOs across Fortune 500 companies in the US hit a historic high - at 39, followed by yet another milestone of 41 women CEOs in 2021, as per a Wall Street Journal news report.
Another notable example comes from Nigeria. In 2023, Margaret Moore became the pioneer president of the prestigious African Insurance Women Organisation (AIWA), which is committed to empowering women in Africa’s insurance sector. She began her career at Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation during the 80s and moved on to hold leadership positions in the insurance industry thereafter.
Notably, women executives in insurance earn respect and international recognition through the prestigious Geneva Association's Women in Insurance Award, which is the first international award that celebrates women executives in this sector.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.
However, not all countries are rolling out the red carpet for women leaders.
Data from the OECD confirms that Japan has consistently scored poorly in economic metrics pertaining to the number of women in management positions. In 2023, Japan hit an all-time poor score of being ranked 125th out of 146 countries. Following this, the Japanese government and its administration proposed quotas in its most recent draft policy framework, as reported in the Japan Times report on October 13, 2023. The proposal aims to appoint at least one female board member by 2025 and to keep increasing that number to 30% by 2030.
While Japan’s draft policy framework has pitched quotas for women leaders, it is silent on what happens if these quota targets are not met or complied with.
The Rise of Women Leaders in the Insurance Sector
In the Indian context, there are multi-layered challenges that women leaders grapple with even as women leaders are highly respected and recognised across India’s banking and insurance industry.
In fact, a recent study on ‘2020 Working Mother & Avtar Best Companies for Women in India’ offers valuable insights. Data findings from this study show a notable increase in the percentage of women hired rising from 31 percent in 2016 to 37 percent in 2020. The study also highlights the top 10 companies for women in 2020, most of which pertain to banking and tech giants. The insurance sector in India has plenty of examples of how it nurtures a diverse talent and leadership pipeline.
According to another global report in 2019 by SpencerStuart titled ‘Increasing Gender Diversity in Insurance: Leadership Lessons from Women Who Reached the C-Suite’:
A rigorous, systematic and thoughtful mentoring of potential women candidates needs to be institutionalised.
A good cue would be to study the most successful organisations and how effectively they signal gender diversity right from the top!
This helps to foster an inclusive work environment where women are active participants in board-level discussions. This paves the way for women to gain clarity on several aspects of their work such as team dynamics, what kind of functioning and vision the top roles entail and how to sustain strategic vision.
Today’s work environment is highly competitive and women need to learn how to advocate for themselves in a way they are comfortable with.
Having a clear voice in critical and development-centric discussions or important projects will bring more visibility across the leadership board.
Summing up, it’s important to celebrate the fast-evolving dynamics of the InsurTech industry, in supporting processes that enable gender parity and pave the way to foster inclusive teams.
