Wear a pink tie: Be a he for she
Why wear a pink tie?
- Female CEOs are uncommon at large credit unions
- A significant pay gap still exists for women today
- Some men do not recognize the need to empower women
- Women can be obstacles for other women
- Support Sister Society
I wear a pink tie. I choose to wear a pink tie because it represents being a man who supports the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN). The Oklahoma City GWLN Sister Society launched on Thursday, August 21, 2019. Sixty-three women (and two men) from eight credit unions were in attendance at the first Oklahoma City meeting. My colleague, JC Reavis (Chief Operating Officer at Allegiance), and I were those men. Why should a man choose to wear a pink tie and attend Sister Society chapter meetings?
Female CEOs are uncommon at large credit unions
I choose to wear a pink tie to support women’s empowerment. While 2018 figures indicate that more than half of all credit union CEOs (52%) in the United States are women, the figure is only true for credit unions of smaller asset size – the numbers drop drastically as the asset size of the credit union increases. For credit unions under $250 million USD in assets, 57.7% of CEOs are women. With asset sizes between $250-750 million USD that proportion drops to $18.9%, $750 million to $1 billion USD in assets decreases to 16.4% and $1 billion to 3 billion USD declines even more to 14.2%.
A significant pay gap still exists for women today
Additionally, a significant pay gap exists between men and women in the United States. A PayScale report found that women still make only $0.79 for each dollar men make in 2019. A Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) analysis discovered that in 2018, median weekly earnings for female full-time wage and salary workers was 81% of men’s earnings. The PayScale report also found that the largest pay gap is for black female executives who earn only $0.63 for every dollar a white male executive earns. Women, on average, had to work from January 1, 2018 through April 2, 2019 to earn pay equal to what their male counterparts made in 2018. Black women had to work through August 22, 2019.
Some men do not recognize the need to empower women
I choose to wear a pink tie because when the Sister Society in Oklahoma City was forming, I heard a few murmurings from male colleagues that Sister Society was unnecessary because our industry is female dominated. The statistics I shared should be enough for any man who believes in the values and principles that credit unions represent to pick up a pink tie in solidarity and advocate for the cause of women, especially peers in the credit union movement.
Women can be obstacles for other women
I choose to wear a pink tie because sometimes women themselves can be a bigger obstacle to other women than men. A loan officer from another credit union in town heard through word of mouth about the new Sister Society and excitedly attended the first chapter meeting. Two female senior “leaders” from her credit union who were also in attendance questioned her as to why she was there because she was not one of the employees “selected” to attend. This made the young lady feel unwelcomed and embarrassed. Fellow women treated a woman this way at a women’s empowerment event. A free, after-work event open to everyone in the credit union movement. Empowered women empower other women and I believe that is exactly what Sister Societies will do; empower women to empower other women.
Support Sister Society
I choose to wear a pink tie because men can use their position of gender privilege to advocate and influence other men. If you’re reading this and you are a man, what can you do?
- Attend the next Sister Society meeting near you.
- If you do not have a Sister Society near you, encourage and support women from your credit union and your community to get in touch with WOCCU and work toward starting one.
- Invite and support women in your credit union to attend Sister Society.
- Invite and influence other men to attend Sister Society and advocate for women.
Wear a pink tie. Be a He for She!
Article Background
On October 13, I had the privilege of serving as the off-continent representative on a panel of men talking about the He for She Campaign at the African Confederation of Cooperative Savings and Credit Associations (ACCOCSA) 20th SACCA Congress. Randy Smith, CUInsight Co-founder, was able to eloquently capture his experience at SACCA Congress in a recent article. Be sure to read it if you haven’t already! ACCOSCA asked me to write a few words about why, as a male, I attend Sister Society meetings and I wanted to share that here as well.
