May 3, 2016 – Our keynote speaker this week was Amy Brennan, Executive Director of The Center for Women (the “Center”). Amy presented the 2015 Status of South Carolina Women Report – Charting the Course for Change (the “Report”). The Report is a tool for South Carolina to measure the equality and opportunities provided to women in this State to ensure the economic success of businesses, families, and our communities. The goal of the Report is to provide a snapshot of South Carolina’s current state of equality and then to use the Report as a starting point to make changes for the better. The Center anticipates entities and organization to use the Report, including corporations who want to achieve the highest profitability, local governments who want to attract businesses, and community members who want to see improvements in the South Carolina economy. The ultimate purpose of the Repot is to articulate the challenges that we currently face as a state that limit women’s economic success.
The Report focuses on four key indicator areas: (1) Leadership; (2) Health and Safety; (3) Education; and (4) Economic Security.
Leadership – In South Carolina, women are under-represented in elected office and in top-level management. While the national averages of representation are not optimal, South Carolina is profoundly lacking women in leadership positions. One way to address this issue is to increase women’s board representation on publicly traded company boards. In South Carolina, there are 43 publically traded companies and only one of them (Blackbaud) has 33% women board representation. In addition, increasing the number of women in elected office is crucial. The more women elected to office, the more likely South Carolina government is to support the opportunities and protections of women. In 2014, only 19% of people who ran for statewide elected positions were women. While South Carolina is one of five states to have a female governor, our state ranks 49th in the number of women elected to the state legislature.
Health and Safety – Access to health care is lagging and violence against women leads to lost work days/wages, court and legal fees, significant emotional and behavioral effects on children, and acute and chronic health issues for women. The South Carolina maternal death rates have unexplainably increased by almost 300%over the past couple of years. In January 2015, Governor Haley convened a Task Force of representatives from more than 65 government and non-government entities at the state and local levels to improve areas affecting domestic violence. The Task Force produced 50 recommendations of identified problems. The Center has identified 4 key recommendations: (1) develop school curriculum to help children understand healthy relationships; (2) all law enforcement adopt best practices for reporting and screening domestic violence; (3) continue to support and facilitate local communities for additional emergency housing; and (4) determine bet practice for categorizing all potential domestic violence, as current statutory definition excludes dating violence.
Education – Building an educational system that makes education attainable ensure economic success for all families. Despite the success that women have in attaining high levels of education, there is no correlation to success in high level careers and financial security. Unfortunately, significant gaps continue to exist. To ensure women’s economic security, young women should be educated about which jobs in South Carolina offer opportunity. Directing education towards successful careers allows employers to have a large talent pool. A workforce talent gap is projected by 2018, with growth primarily in five key sectors where gender gap currently exists: (1) industrial productions; (2) computer and software; (3) science and engineering; (4) sales and marketing; and (5) medical. To emphasize high-skill and high-wage jobs, we should encourage young women into apprenticeships opportunities early.
Economic Security – In order for women to achieve success and have the greatest opportunities, we must look at developing look at developing economic security from a holistic approach. Encouraging interest in and providing access to high-wage, high-demand jobs and expecting equal pay for equal work are two ways to increase economic outcomes for the entire State. Currently, there is approximately a $10,000 disparity between the median salaries for men and women in South Carolina. Such earning disparity is an issued that affects our state’s economy. Because South Carolina is ranked 40th in the nation for the overall state of childcare, we should increase the availability of quality, affordable child care.
The core mission of the Center is to help women success by connecting them with success. Currently, the Center focuses on three main service areas: (1) Leadership and Development; (2) Financial Security; and (3) Advocacy and Awareness. The Center serves more than 1,100 individuals each year through programs and workshops, including (i) The South Carolina Women’s Business Center, (ii) Ready for Work, and (iii) Smart Leadership.
— Abe Gutting, Keyway Committee