Driving Equality in 2025: The Power of Gender Partnerships

As global progress toward gender equality stalls—and in some areas reverses—Sarah DiMuccio and Rafif Srour Daher call for a new approach: true gender partnerships. In this article, released the week after the Womenomics Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, the authors explore how inclusive leadership, cultural change, and shared accountability can drive lasting progress and redefine the future of work.

Driving Equality in 2025: The Power of Gender Partnerships

By: Sarah DiMuccio, Above & Beyond Group, in collaboration with Rafif Srour Daher from IE University 

The past several decades have brought significant momentum around gender diversity – but they’ve also seen a rise in resistance. While women have made meaningful gains in workplace participation, they remain underrepresented in decision-making roles across nearly every sector. Sustaining progress will require deeper, long-term commitment across all genders.

Recent developments – from global anti-gender movements to growing attacks on women’s and human rights – make it clear that progress is fragile. According to UN Women, global progress toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality) has not only stalled; in some areas, it is actually reversing (UN Women, 2023). Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum's latest Global Gender Gap Report predicts it will take over 134 years to close the global gender gap at the current pace (WEF, 2024).

Even in the Nordic countries, long regarded as global leaders on gender equality, persistent gaps remain. Our own Gender Equality Paradox research, conducted in collaboration with McKinsey & Company, found that in Denmark, just 19% of executive roles are held by women, despite high levels of educational attainment, workforce participation, and supportive public policy (The Diversity Council & McKinsey, 2022). This reflects a broader truth: formal equality does not guarantee equitable outcomes. Deep-seated cultural and structural barriers – often subtle or even well-intentioned – continue to limit women’s advancement.

Why gender diversity matters now more than ever

The case for gender-diverse leadership is strong. Companies with greater gender balance at the top are consistently more profitable, innovative, and resilient (BCG, 2018; Mckinsey & Co, 2020). It’s not gender alone that drives these outcomes, but the broader range of lived experiences, perspectives, and problem-solving approaches that diverse leadership brings. When organizations reflect the world around them, they’re better equipped to challenge groupthink, spot new opportunities, attract talent, serve customers, and navigate today’s complex, fast-changing environment. Gender equity isn’t just a moral aspiration — it’s a strategic necessity. Building inclusive workplaces is essential to long-term performance, trust, and sustainability – for everyone, not just women.

Over the past decade of hosting the Womenomics Global Summit, we’ve seen this reality reflected firsthand. Each year, we bring together leaders and change agents from across industries and regions – and what they tell us is clear: gender diversity strengthens not only business outcomes, but also the quality of decision-making and the cultural foundations of strong inclusive leadership. At the same time, they continue to voice a shared frustration: despite growing awareness and investment, meaningful progress remains slow. That’s why the next chapter in this work must go deeper by addressing the cultural and behavioral dynamics that quietly undermine progress.

The dangers that ‘invisible’ barriers still pose

Today, the barriers to gender equity are often subtle — and therefore difficult to name, measure, or confront. Even in organizations committed to inclusion, quiet but persistent habits and norms can reinforce inequality and make change harder than expected.

One powerful, and often invisible, obstacle is what researchers call masculinity contest cultures: workplace environments where success is tied to norms like dominance, aggression, and relentless competition (Berdahl, Glick & Cooper, 2018, HBR). These cultures not only disadvantage women and leadership styles often associated with them (e.g., collaboration, empathy, and flexibility), but also place damaging pressure on men to suppress vulnerability and authenticity, and to prove their worth through constant competition (Mayer, 2018, HBR). Research my colleagues and I conducted in my previous role at Catalyst further shows that men in these hyper-competitive environments are significantly less likely to interrupt sexism when they witness it – reinforcing a culture of silence and inaction even among those who want to speak up (Sattari, Shaffer, DiMuccio & Travis, 2020, Catalyst).

These dynamics are further reinforced by internalized gender norms. Research from IE Business School found that these norms lead some women to self-select out of leadership roles. In their interviews with senior women, many shared that they had “mentally given up” on advancement, believing leadership “wasn’t for them” – not because they lacked ability, but because social conditioning had taught them to expect exclusion (Bhattacharjee & Sen, 2023, IE University).

Rafif Srour Daher, Executive Vice Dean at the IE School of Science and Technology at IE University offers a particular insight to these norms in the STEM space:

"These dynamics are amplified in STEM fields, where masculine-coded cultures and narrow definitions of success remain firmly rooted. Despite growing awareness, women remain significantly underrepresented in areas like AI, robotics, and data science. Even when they do enter these spaces, retention is a major challenge. According to UNESCO, women make up only 28% of the global STEM workforce, and those who stay often report isolation, a lack of mentorship, and subtle but persistent bias as barriers to advancement. 

"I’ve witnessed these patterns firsthand in educational settings. Young women often enter STEM with genuine curiosity and strong potential but begin to question whether they belong when they rarely see themselves reflected—in their faculty, in leadership roles, or in the narratives of innovation that shape our future. The message they receive, implicitly and repeatedly, is that they must adapt to a culture that wasn’t built with them in mind.

"This is not a pipeline problem. It’s a culture problem—and more importantly, it’s a design problem.

"The way forward cannot be about helping women merely “survive” in these spaces. We must actively build systems of gender partnership, where men and women co-create the culture, structures, and values that define the future of science, technology, and society. If we want lasting change, 2025 must mark a turning point: a shift from fixing women to fixing the systems—and to reimagining leadership itself as inclusive, collaborative, and reflective of the full spectrum of human potential."

The way forward: Creating true gender partnerships

As is clearly expressed by Rafif, what’s needed now isn’t more policy or awareness alone - it’s a shift in how we approach inclusion work itself. It calls for reimagining equity as something we do with one another – not only for a single group – through shared ownership, accountability, and partnership.

Gender partnerships offer a more transformative path forward – one rooted in mutual accountability and cultural change (DiMuccio et al., 2022, Catalyst). Rather than one group supporting another from the sidelines, they involve people of all genders working together to question assumptions, interrupt bias, and co-create inclusive, adaptive workplaces. When equity is framed only as “helping women,” it positions men as outsiders. But in reality, we’re all shaped by gendered norms — and we all benefit from more inclusive systems. Gender partnerships go beyond checklists. They call on leaders to reflect, engage, and act — building organizations that are fairer, stronger, and better prepared for the future.

Based on research and experience, three key actions stand out:

1. Challenge Invisible Barriers
    Organizations must recognize and dismantle subtle forms of bias, including benevolent sexism and masculinity contest norms.
    Success should be redefined around inclusive, human leadership qualities, not outdated stereotypes.
2. Redefine Leadership Norms
    Companies must champion collaboration, empathy, and authenticity as core inclusive leadership strengths.
    Diverse leadership styles should be celebrated, encouraging people to lead in ways that reflect their strengths rather than conforming to rigid molds.
3. Build Shared Accountability
    Gender equity must become a shared business goal, not a side project.
    Progress should be tracked and rewarded like any other strategic priority, ensuring that inclusion is woven into leadership development, succession planning, and organizational culture.

Organizations like ISS, Maersk, McKinsey and PWC – all recognized for integrating inclusion into all aspects of their business – demonstrate that when gender diversity is woven into the fabric of their business, and not just managed by one department, it strengthens both culture and performance.

A shared responsibility for the future

Driving gender diversity in 2025 and beyond requires more than isolated initiatives or one-off programs. It demands a cultural shift – one in which equity is seen not as a nice-to-have, but as a strategic imperative, embedded into leadership, systems, and everyday decision-making.

When we commit to building workplaces where leadership isn’t defined by gender, but by integrity, capability, and vision, we don’t just make room for more women at the top – we expand what’s possible for everyone.

This work isn’t about "fixing" women. It’s about transforming the conditions that hold talent back. And when we get that right, the payoff isn’t just fairness - it’s stronger business, better leadership, and a more sustainable future.