Recently for a school project, we were supposed to research a controversial social issue of our choice, and present it to our class. I decided to do my presentation on gender quotas.

What Is The Social Issue?

The recent study by the World Economic Forum was called The Global Gender Gap Report, which explored economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment between both genders. The study stated that Canada came in only 20^th. We did quite well in the first three sections, but unfortunately, Canada did quite poorly in the “women in parliament” section as we came in 41^st.

Not only are women being under represented in the government, but in 2014, women made up a mere 17.7% of the members of corporate boards!

What Are Gender Quotas?

The definition of a quota is “a limited or fixed amount of people or things, in particular. Gender quotas ensure that women constitute a minimum of 30-40% of the members of corporate boards.

Below is a quick video explaining more about gender quotas and how they work.

What Are The PROS?

#1: Using quotas to ensure gender diversity will increase productivity and financial performance.

#2: Quotas would force the majority of male leadership to broaden their views about hiring women.

#3: Having more women in executive positions would lead to more positive role models for young girls to look up to.

What Are The CONS?

#1: If candidates are chosen solely to achieve the quota, it could cause resentment in the workplace.

#2: Using quotas may cause you to select a less qualified candidate for the role.

#3: Quotas are very difficult to implement as you have to either fire people or wait for attrition.

What Is My Opinion?

Although I am all for achieving gender equality, I just don’t think gender quotas are the answer. I believe that people should be hired based on competency and merit not based on gender.

What is your opinion? Leave it in the comments below.

Thanks for joining me in my journey to change the world!

-Diviya