Sales and business development roles have traditionally been male-dominated and a competitive job function. Historically, a big part of the workplace diversity dilemma came down to a matter of resources: simply put, there weren’t enough women in the job market. But, while many companies are taking positive steps to improve diversity, it’s important to recognize that much work remains to be done.
Last week, LinkedIn released its workforce diversity data report, and the employee makeup is mostly male. In the wake of this report, we wanted to get visibility into our own network and how women are represented.
With access to over 300 million LinkedIn member profiles, we were able to measure the representation of women by job function, title, industry, and more. We want to use this information to bring awareness to the subject and put something in place to help transform the industry and narrow that gap.
Obviously we can't do it alone though. That's why going forward, we will be sharing tips and insights from the top women in sales including Jill Konrath, Jill Rowley, Trish Bertuzzi, Lori Richardson, Josiane Feigon, Barb Giamanco and Joanne Black, highlighting their success stories to help build awareness of this issue.
We've also initiated the Women at LinkedIn (W@LI), over 1000+ LinkedIn female employees to help us close the diversity gaps in today's workforce.
If you are a women in sales, what advice would you give to other female professionals to get ahead and help build a more diverse workplace? Share your answer in the LinkedIn Sales Solutions Group and by using the hashtag #WomenInSales on Twitter.
All of us are influencers and therefore can influence, so help us spread the word.
The gender of LinkedIn members included in this analysis has been inferred from a classification of first names. Seniority and job function were determined by classifying job titles for positions listed on LinkedIn. The industries listed is based on the industry of the company. Those whose genders, titles, or industries could not be determined with reasonable accuracy were not included in this analysis. This data excludes all the people who were working 10 years ago but don't have LinkedIn profiles or don't have positions from 10 years ago listed.
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