Equity, equality, and everything in between

There is no doubt that workplace gender equality and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have rapidly gained prominence and momentum as core business strategies. The pandemic has obviously emphasized that human-centered leadership and management skills are good for business.

This year’s theme, #EmbraceEquity, reveals that equity is the acknowledgment that a person’s unique characteristics may result in different levels of access to opportunity. While equality and equity are sometimes used interchangeably, these terms are quite different from each other. Equality is when everyone gets the same thing, and equity is when everyone gets the things that correspond to their particular needs.

Inclusive business is responsive business. The business community continues to demonstrate its capacity to help the economy recover through inclusive, efficient, and effective policies and practices. Business leaders are now more conscious and deliberate in ensuring that the markets they serve are well-represented in their decision-making processes.

This year’s women’s month celebration is extraordinary as the demand to hold physical and hybrid events has finally returned. It also reflects the growth of the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (PBCWE)—both in membership and in the breadth and depth of our work. In the last six months, we have signed up our first airline member, our first engineering firm, and new member companies in the energy, technology, and infrastructure sectors. With 37 member companies to date, PBCWE is proud to say that all its members are industry leaders, household names, and pioneers in their own right.

Key to our work is helping companies gather data and establish baselines on the state of gender equality in their respective workplaces and to address barriers to achieving gender equality targets through policy reform, capacity building, communication, and engagement strategies. In our discussions with PBCWE members and partners, the desire to explore other dimensions of diversity and a deepened understanding of inclusion has been almost unanimous. Banking on this growing demand, PBCWE has been working with the Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce to include LGBTQIA+ inclusion and disability inclusion as the two new focus areas of the Gender Equality Assessment, Results, and Strategies (GEARS), which is the flagship offering of PBCWE. We are happy to note that the additional focus areas have generated more interest and appreciation from PBCWE members to undergo GEARS. We shared this during the 1st Inclusive Philippines Business Summit with the hope of further contributing to the growing business case for DEI.

Several activities that PBCWE supported reflect the conscious effort to embrace the advocacy in workplaces that are traditionally overrepresented by men, such as the Safe Spaces training session with Precast and Construction Solutions by Megawide aimed at raising awareness about and addressing gender-based harassment, discrimination, bullying, and violence in the workplace, if any. PBCWE also joined the Women in Engineering Movement, which was launched during the 2023 Urban Land Institute Philippines Conference. The Movement, led by PBCWE Member ESCA Engineering, aims to increase women’s representation in technology, engineering, transportation, and construction industries. Joining the core group are the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines, CECOPHIL, IPM Construction, Corebilt, and Datem.

Continuing the conversation with action. The challenge is now to continue the work of embracing DEI and eventually celebrate women’s month every month. May we find more allies to support and advocate for people with less privilege and those whose voices are usually silenced.

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Julia Abad is executive director of the PBCWE. Antoinette Santos is policy and communications specialist of PBCWE.

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Women Who Lead is an initiative of the Philippine Women’s Economic Network (PhilWEN).