JMSB Receives Gender Parity Certification by Women in Governance

What Gender Parity Means for JMSB Moving Forward

NewsNanor Froundjian — Published September 25, 2019

Dedicated to closing the gender parity gap in the workplace by giving women their rightful opportunities, Women in Governance instituted the certification in 2017.

“We are committed to continuous improvement in this area,” said Dean of JMSB Anne-Marie Croteau.

“This is an ongoing endeavour, and that’s why inclusion and diversity feature so prominently in JMSB’s new strategic plan. It is something that we think about constantly and that we consider anytime we launch a new initiative or make any significant decision,” she continued.

But what does gender parity in the workplace really mean?

Nicole Piggott, Vice-President of Global Operations at Women in Governance said, “Gender parity simply means that the organizations and the companies and the educational institutions that we work in and are educated in reflect the population and the market that they serve.”

She stressed the importance of diversity in terms of culture, sexual orientation and gender, explaining that heterogeneous organizations are proven to out-perform homogeneous ones.

In other words, having people with varied backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences is beneficial for companies.

The goal is to have an equitable hierarchy among the faculty and administration that reflects gender parity.

Obtaining the certificate by completing a diagnostic component—which consists of filling out a thorough 12 to 15 hour questionnaire and providing supporting documents—is the first step in a lengthy process. That is what JMSB has achieved so far, and it is just the beginning.

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The application, submitted in June, included the participation of unions representing Concordia employees, alumni, and a number of administrative units within Concordia and JMSB, explained Croteau.

After awarding the certificate, Women in Governance tailors an action plan according to the strengths and weaknesses of each organization.

The organization can then decide to use this detailed report to implement the recommended corrections and improvement to move closer to their goal towards achieving gender parity.

This certificate is a tool that helps evaluate an organization’s standing in terms of gender parity and is useful both employees and potential/future employees when scouting out options, said Piggott.

It gives organizations a roadmap that will help put in place long-term measures with sustainable goals.

A mother of two daughters with a professional background in the corporate world, which she described as “male-dominated” industries, Piggott feels “personally invested in the outcome for our young women in the workplace.”

She hopes that Women in Governance will contribute in making gender parity in the workplace the norm, that it won’t be an exception like it is today.