
Forum Recap 2019 & Action Plan 2020
WE FOR SHE is proud to present our latest report on gender equity in BC.
In this booklet, we’re re-living some of the highlights from our 2019 forum and offering suggestions for what you can do to get involved with this year’s Action Plan.
We encourage you to find your own role in this collective movement by sharing this report with your network, and taking the next step with the resources on this page. Together, we can move the dial!

Reports from Previous Years
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- Women comprise 55.7% of post-secondary graduates (Statistics Canada, 2015), yet they get paid 22.6% less than men (The Conference Board of Canada, 2017).
- Women represent 47% of the workforce (WEB Alliance, 2015), yet they only make up make up 3% of trades (WorkBC, 2017), 20% of tech (WorkBC, 2017) and 5.3% of CEOs (WEB Alliance, 2015).
- Women own 37% of small businesses in the province, yet they receive less than 4% of venture capital (WEB Alliance, 2015).
- Women hold 22% of the available Top 50 company board seats in BC (Minerva BC, 2018).
- There are more Fortune 500 CEOs named James than all female CEOs (The New York Times, 2018).
RESOURCES TO HELP YOU TAKE ACTION
Below you can browse helpful resources, research and tools for you to:
Take action in your life. We each have the power to create change. As individuals, women can educate themselves, improve their mindset and step up as leaders. As a culture, we need to challenge the status quo and normalize equality in leadership roles, in pay and at home.
Take action in your organization. Businesses of any size can lead the way for inclusion. Your corporate culture, HR practices, procurement policies and even your marketing can be used to show your commitment to gender diversity and pave the way for change
SHARE THE BUSINESS CASE
- The Power of Parity: Advancing Women’s Equality in Canada, McKinsey Global Institute
- The Global Gender Gap Report 2020, World Economic Forum
- The Face of Leadership™ BC Scorecard 2019, Minerva BC
- The Face of Leadership™ BC Tech Scorecard 2018, Minerva BC
- Business Case for Indigenous Workplace Inclusion, Indigenous Works
- Emma Watson’s Speech to the UN
ADDRESS GENDER ROLES AND STEREOTYPES
Transform Your Mindset
- Book: The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women, Dr. Valerie Young
- Breaking Free of Systemic Fixed Mindsets About Women
- 11 Harmful Types of Unconscious Bias and How to Interrupt Them, Catalyst
- How the Best Bosses Interrupt Bias on Their Teams, Harvard Business Review
- Bias Interrupters: Toolkits for Organizations, Teams and You, Center for WorkLife Law
- Impostor Syndrome is a Genuine Threat to Women’s Workplace Advancement, Cybele Negris
- Belonging Uncertainty Scale, Stanford SPARQtools
- Sources of Male and Female Students’ Belonging Uncertainty in the Computer Sciences, Frontiers in Psychology
INCREASE WOMEN IN TRADES, STEM
INCREASE WOMEN ON BOARDS
- Annual Report Card
- How to Accelerate Gender Diversity on Boards, McKinsey Quarterly
COMMUNICATE RESPECTFULLY
- Top Negotiation Tips for Women, Kellogg School of Management
- Book: Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High
- What (If Anything) to Do or Say to Interrupt Bias, National Centre for Women & Information Technology
ENGAGE MEN
- How Men Can Become Better Allies to Women, Harvard Business Review
- Don’t Burn Hapless Men, Turn Them, Forbes
- Infographic: Actions Men Can Take to Create an Inclusive Workplace, Catalyst
STRATEGIES AND TOOLKITS FOR ORGANIZATIONS
- Gender Strategy Toolkit, Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Australian Government
- A seven-step plan to improve gender diversity at any company, Canadian Business
- Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+), Department for Women and Gender Equality
- The Five Pillars: Turning Opportunity into Advancement, Canada-US Council for the Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs & Business Leaders
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- The latest Women Matter report from McKinsey and Company. Click here.
- Women in the Workplace 2019 is a comprehensive study of the state of women in corporate America. The study is part of a long-term partnership between LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company to give companies the information they need to promote female leadership and foster gender equality in the workplace.
- You can find finance anywhere – Cheryl Yue, Lululemon.

BC INITIATIVES STARTED SINCE 2014
- BC Tech – What Works Series
- Builders Code
- Catalyst for Growth Regional Dialogues and Fund by Women’s Enterprise Centre
- “Enhancing the Mosaic of Women Entrepreneurs” (EMWE) project launched by Women’s Enterprise Centre
- Face of Leadership™ BC Score Card
- HR Tech Group
- Inclusive Leadership Training Program Pilot by Minerva BC, advanced through the HR Tech Group
- Minerva BC Tech Scorecard
- We For She NextGen™ Leaders Program
- Women in Tech Regatta – in Vancouver since 2017
- Women in Tech World – See their Gender Equity Roadmap
- Women’s Leadership Council Wendy McDonald Awards
- YVR Airport Authority Women’s Development Circles
OTHER RESOURCES AND TOOLS FROM LEADERS IN DIVERSITY
- Engineers Canada 30 by 30
- EY Diversity and Inclusiveness
- HeForShe by UN Women
- HSBC Diversity and Inclusion Program
- PwC Diversity and Inclusion
- Microsoft Global Diversity and Inclusion
- Supplier Diversity at RBC
- UN Women
- World Economic Forum Interactive Tool: Mapping Global Transformations, Gender Parity
- For more diversity leaders, check out the 2019 Diversity Inc List of Top 50 Companies for Diversity