19 August2021WOMEN FORM A WHOPPING 41 PERCENT OF THE GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN WORKFORCE IN 2021initiative focused on women, a significant increase from 46 percent in 2020. Twenty-three percent rely on enterprise-wide DEI initiatives, and ten percent are considering launching a supply-chain-led initiative. In total, 90percent of respondents report active initiatives, which is an all-time high.There was an improved representation of women at every level of the supply chain pipeline except the C-level, defying pandemic-era odds.In addition, there was a record number of specific commitments and supply-chain-led actions to ensure gender DEI follow-through.Previous years have shown that setting goals and having stated objectives are crucial drivers for improvements in pipelines and other DEI outcomes. The proportion of supply chain organizations with any type of goal increased from 64percent in 2020 to 73percent in 2021. Within the subset of respondents (29percent) who have stated objectives, 68 percent said the supply chain organization had a targeted initiative focusing on women, a significant increase from 46 percent in 2020.It's encouraging to see that the larger share of this jump was for more formal targets and specific goals on management scorecards. For these respondents, there is greater accountability for results ­ and there is a visible correlation with stronger representation and inclusion showing up in pipelines.The 2021 Women in Supply Chain Survey is a collaborative effort between a team of Gartner analysts who research supply chain workforce and organisational dynamics and AWESOME, a nonprofit organisation based in the United States dedicated to advancing women's supply chain leadership.Other Key partners are Council for Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), a nonprofit organisation based in the United States for supply chain professionals, and boom!, a global community based in the United Kingdom formed to support and connect women in the supply chain profession, with membership spanning 30 countries.Gartner and AWESOME collaborated to create the survey and recruit participants. Qualified participants worked for companies with at least $100 million in annual revenue that ran an internal supply chain organisation, ran supply chain as a separate business unit/specialty/practice area, or served as vendors of supply chain services and solutions.The survey questions focused on the following topics: company goals and initiatives to improve women's recruitment, development, retention, and advancement; representation of women of colour; practises to increase women's engagement and success in supply chain organisations; midcareer pipelines; and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.The survey also gathered baseline data on how many women work as frontline managers/supervisors, senior managers, directors, vice presidents/senior directors, and executives in supply chain organisations.
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