Companies that succeed to attract, retain and recognize female talent as a part of their talent management strategies seem to face a fresh set of challenges. What’s interesting to note is that these drawbacks do not result from perception bias. A study by SCM World found that 74% of men think that women’s natural skills differ from men – and that women’s skill sets are highly regarded in the supply chain management (see Figure 1). These skills include multi-tasking, communication, collaboration, and influence.

In the fast-paced world of supply chain management, excelling at these skills would suggest that more women would hold senior level positions. But as we move close to the top of the supply chain organizational chart the disparity becomes increasingly apparent at senior levels. For instance, women account for just 11% of supply chain executives, the Gartner research shows.

How to succeed?

There has been a lot of enthusiasm, commitment and money going into many initiatives to get women into supply chain and logistics, but the results are far from satisfactory.

Young professionals oftentimes refrain from applying to jobs in supply chain management as they are told that the industry is too rough and tough for females. This is not a gender issue; it is a broader societal issue one cannot change singlehandedly. But collectively, employers, educators, government administrators and not-for-profit organizations can do better and give girls and young women more exposure to supply chain management jobs, female role models, and career awareness and planning.

A 2018 study by Microsoft found that girls and young women who know a woman in a STEM profession are more likely to feel empowered when they engage in STEM activities (61 percent) than those who don’t know a woman in a STEM profession (44 percent) (see Figure 2).

Women Leaders in Supply Chain & Logistics

We need more female mentors and role models in supply chain and logistics industry in order to tip the scales in favor of a gender-balanced workforce. With more exposure to positive role models, young professionals could find women that they can relate to and aspire to be.

More importantly, we must show how women leaders can contribute to the success of the company. Here at Industry Leaders Magazine, we celebrate and recognize the success of prominent women leaders in the supply chain industry.

These highly accomplished supply chain executives provide the best sort of role models for girls and young women interested to pursue a career in the supply chain industry.

Renata Mihich Managing Director Canada, DHL Global Forwarding

Traditional wisdom tells us to strive for lush titles and management roles to ultimately land a top leadership job. Sadly, this is far from the truth, as we’ve learned from Renata Mihich’s career. Adaptability and resilience is the greatest asset you can possess to accelerate your career growth in any sector. When you’re adaptable and resilient you’re not another cog in the wheel. You become self-sufficient, get to learn a lot, and come out as a complete package who knows things from ground reality to bottom up.

Renata Mihich has an illustrious 20+ year career with DHL where she has held just about every role in the organization, including customer services, sales, and marketing. Today, she calls the shots as the managing director for the organization in Canada. It may have only been five years since she was made MD, but her tenacity for leadership and innovation show she’s more than a match for the traditionally male-dominated supply chain industry.

Denise Kopko Senior Vice President Operations, Veolia North America

Maybe you’ve witnessed your boss or a coworker indulge in sexism as they ask you to fetch coffee for everyone in the meeting room, or take up on an administrative task because “women are more organized.” Denise Kopko is here to teach you to exude confidence and command the respect you deserve.

“Early in my career, we had a train derailment and I was called into the vice president’s office,” Kopko recalls in an interview with Inbound Logistics. “His feet were up on the desk, his shoes were off, and he asked me to get him a cup of coffee.”

“I decided to stand my ground, and said, “I just spent four years putting myself through college and it wasn’t to get you a cup of coffee. If you’d like to discuss the reason I came into the office, let me know, and I’ll be glad to talk to you about that.””

Denise Kopko graduated with a degree in logistics and supply chain before it was a popular major. Today she’s the vice president of operations-commercial, supply chain and logistics, with Veolia North America. 

Lynn Torrel Chief Supply Chain and Procurement Officer, Flex

When you travel, you are able to discover not only yourself but also the world you live in. Exploration of other countries gives you an opportunity to see how other cultures execute business or products in your industry. While living in Europe, Lynn Torrel worked with colleagues, customers, and supplies and got an opportunity to learn how to balance global requirements with local needs.

Today, Lynn Torrel has more than 25 years of experience in supply chain and procurement and has proved to be a valuable asset to companies like Avnet United and Velocity where she handled some of their largest strategic customers and supply chain programs globally.

Torrel was appointed to her current role at Flex in September 2019. Under her leadership, Flex is maximizing process efficiencies and productivity and maintaining strong relationships with vendors and distributors.

Christine Morgan Regional Vice President, Pilot Freight Services

A Harvard Business School study noted that nearly everyone, regardless of gender, placed a higher value on their families than on their work. Sadly, women are told they’re not the right fit for career advancement opportunities because of the common belief that they are more committed to family than men are. How women react to such biases can also affect their ability to succeed and thrive. Often times they hold themselves back because they don’t know people or are afraid what others might think.

Christine Morgan was nearly passed up for an opportunity to manage a larger station because her new boss assumed the single mother wouldn’t be willing to move. Morgan let him know that if the right opportunity presented itself, she would certainly put her ring in the hat. In six months, she had three opportunities presented to her.

When women are not assertive, they settle for things and end up being unhappy at work. The onus isn’t just on women. The extent to which women in male-dominated sectors thrive partly depends on the kind of opportunities and treatment they receive at work.

In her role as regional vice president, Christine Morgan has successful implemented business growth strategies, and facilitated solutions to enhance new and existing client accounts and grew final mile deliveries.

Do you have a role model that encouraged you to pursue STEM? Keep the conversation going and share your experience with us in a comment below.

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Gender equality and pay parity at the workplace are a part of almost every company’s culture. However, the commitment to these objectives is still lagging in respectable numbers in the 21st century. This inequality is very apparent in the IT industry too, where women barely make up about a quarter of the workforce. Here we are taking a look at women in supply chain and logistics in particular, where though they are making a serious contribution to the industry, the employment statistics are not comparable to men.

According to a report by Catalyst, the number of women in the workplace has risen to nearly 46.7 per cent. But the roles are still confined to traditional employment of sales, front-office representatives, teachers, nurses and cashiers. The coming of the fourth industrial revolution has not changed this much. Digital technology has revolutionized the work culture with more opportunities, a different demographic, better working hours and flexibility, but sadly, the numbers for women in the tech and science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) industry are not encouraging.

There is a huge gender gap between men and women in these fields. The difference is apparent in the employment opportunities, wages, leadership, perception at the workplace, and attitudes.

A gender study by WISE says only 16 per cent of women are IT professionals, and the number has not gone up in the last decade. Another survey by Adeva IT puts the figure at 25 per cent, but what is worrying is that this number is lesser than what it was 30 years ago.

And when we talk about niche specialization like women leaders in supply chain management, the numbers are similarly disappointing. Historically, the logistics and supply chain management industries have been male-dominated, which makes it more difficult for women employees to find a foothold. Women employed in the sector have been occupying financial or human resource roles.

But changes can be seen now.

Reasons for low visibility of women in tech and supply chain business

Take any industry meet or conferences, the number of men present always outnumber the women, this is despite women making up almost half of the workforce.

The reasons given for the lack of representation in the logistics and supply chain field are what applies to the whole IT scene.

a)More boys than girls opt for STEM courses.

b) Misconceptions about the kind of roles that exist in the field

c) Toxic work culture, some office spaces promote the bro culture

d) Pay gap

e) An invisible glass ceiling, which many struggle to breakthrough

f) A paucity of role models, mentorship and success stories of women in the middle and senior-level capacities

A research by Harvard Business Review shows that women in the STEM field in the US were 45 per cent more likely to quit their jobs within a year than their male colleagues.

Logistics and supply chain scenario

In the logistics supply chain business, there has been a slight improvement in the proportion of women employed. In the leadership role, only 10 per cent of women are in senior management, says Fortune, compared to 30 per cent globally. But changes can be seen now.

The logistics and supply chain business has undergone a sea change with the adoption of technology. The logistics have improved with tracking going digital. There is end-to-end visibility of the product cycle. Technology makes warehousing and transporting that much more efficient and cost-effective with sensors tracking space availability, distance, maneuverability, and much more.

This fusion of tech with logistics has diffused the traditional male dominance and women are now taking over the back-end jobs. Development of applications and tracking tech is attracting more females.

Promoting women in supply chain business

Industry organizations such as Women in Logistics have been instrumental in promoting women in the business. Companies are now required to be more diverse and inclusive, which has forced a sea change in hiring policies. Labor laws and political correctness dictate that women are encouraged to apply and be hired.

The cultural values need to be changed; women leaders need to be more visible and act as role models and mentors. Their success stories need to be talked about to attract more women.

Importantly, offering greater flexibility to adjust better to their roles as parents and working women.

A work-life balance is just not a female thing. Companies need to be neutral about this outlook. A family-first attitude will go a long way in improving the participation of women in more diverse careers.

Women, on their part, need to do away with the notion that needs to beat the males at their own game and adopt an aggressive and male persona.

Studies (by Catalyst and Fortune) have shown that women participation in leadership roles leads to better returns on investments. An average 40 per cent higher return in equity and investment is seen.

Innovation improves when a team is diverse.

Women in leadership roles also bring in more customer support. They bring a better understanding of a demographic where women make 85 per cent of consumer decisions.

Not only supply and logistics companies, but employers, in general, need to adopt more diverse, inclusive and equitable recruitment and retention practices to create a dynamic tech workforce.

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