Study Describes Causes of Gender Gap in MA Life Sciences Sector, Recommends Solutions

“Opening the Path to a Diverse Future” contains the results of an exhaustive study examining the causes leading to the lack of gender diversity within the Massachusetts life sciences sector. The study was undertaken by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio) and executive recruiting company Liftstream. The resulting report, the most extensive of its kind, explores the experiences, motivations, and actions of both companies and employees to evaluate why gender gaps exist at every level of an organization, and offers a set of recommendations to help companies increase diversity and inclusion. It shows just how much the current lack of diversity impedes companies’ ability to attract talent, with 46% of women saying they’d reject an employer because of having an all-male board, all-male management, and because they were interviewed only by men.

Women enter the industry in equal proportion to men (49.6% women vs 50.4% men) but the gender-gap grows at all career stages, despite women aspiring to the C-suite and board positions the same as men. The data shows that by the time women reach the C-suite, they account for just 24% vs 76% men, and at the board level, just 14.4% vs 85.6% men. Women who hold SVP or VP positions, a prime talent source for the C-suite, are the most affected group.

“Not only does this report provide quantitative evidence of the visible gender inequality in the life sciences industry, it also explains how a confluence of factors harm women’s career advancement at all stages despite women entering the pipeline with equivalent potential and motivation,” said Karl Simpson, CEO of Liftstream. “The findings challenge some longstanding assumptions and deepen our understanding of why the gender-gap exists. The industry needs to fix these problems so women can participate equally throughout the talent pipeline, thereby ensuring the future leadership at the top of companies is gender diverse and fully includes women.”

The report identifies the following key factors that contribute to the loss of women at each stage in their career, including:

• Recruitment of new employees is too often a result of professional networks and not a more structured and comprehensive talent search which increases the possibility for diversity.
• Men and women prioritize different factors when deciding to stay at a job, and companies are not offering a menu of compensation and benefit options to tailor to individual preferences.
• There is a major disconnect between what companies believe is working to improve diversity and what women see as happening in reality.
• Despite proactive efforts to accelerate their careers, women believe they receive less recognition than men.

“MassBio has long recognized gender diversity as a major problem in the industry, and now we have the data to quantify why women are not advancing in their careers at the same rate as men,” said Abbie Celniker, Chair of the Board of Directors at MassBio & Partner at Third Rock Ventures. “The ability for life sciences companies to continue to grow and succeed largely depends on how well they can attract and retain the best and brightest talent – and that means supporting a more diverse workforce. While this report focuses on Massachusetts, we believe that as the world’s leading biotechnology cluster, the findings presented here are reflective of the industry at large. To truly enact change, we need commitments from both companies and employees.”

The report also includes seven broad approaches companies can immediately apply to address the gender gap along with 50 actionable solutions to improve participation of women in their companies.

This study involved over 900 participants from the Massachusetts life sciences sector, including individuals who are currently working in the life sciences sector, those who are unemployed and looking for work, and those who have left the sector. In addition to individuals, the report surveyed 70 companies in the industry, with responses segmented by company size. (Source: MassBio Website, 21 September, 2017)

To download the full report, visit http://www.massbio.org/diversity.

To attend a program describing the study, its findings and recommendations sponsored by the ISPE Boston Area Chapter Women in Pharma on December 4, visit https://www.ispeboston.org/events/?eventID=974