Gender-Balanced Leadership is Essential for Sustainable Growth

Ms. Aylin Satun Olsun, Chairperson of the Board of PWN Istanbul, has underlined that among the objectives of its establishment is to organize awareness and support activities that will accelerate the achievement of gender equality and said: “Gender balanced leadership is indispensable for a welfare society.”

Ms. Aylin Satun Olsun draws attention to the fact that the situation of women in our country is worrisome when we take the 21st century’s living standards into consideration and that inclusiveness and equality of opportunity should be in all areas of social life, instead of discrimination. For this purpose, we have talked about the activities and projects of PWN Istanbul with Ms. Satun Olsun, who has told us that they have been inviting especially male CEOs in the business world to take responsibility for gender equality with the Equality Ambassador CEO projects for years.

Could you please tell us about the founding purposes PWN Istanbul and its fields of activity? What is your team like?

EPWN (European Businesswomen Network) was founded in Paris in 2003. It has become a well-known network of business professionals with its successful works not only in Europe but also in the Middle East, America, and South America. In addition to being a reliable, accessible and sincere development platform for men and women, PWN also offers a Professional networking opportunity. Among the objectives of its establishment are to organize awareness and support activities that will accelerate the achievement of gender equality, to increase women’s employment and women’s representation in the business world, to support and encourage women’s leadership development, and to create solutions that will raise awareness in the context of work-life balance.

Operating in Turkey since 2013, PWN Istanbul has a member group consisting of 350 male and female professionals with its corporate members. With the projects it has carried out so far, it has brought together more than 3,700 participants by reaching profiles of women in different sectors and fields of expertise. All projects at PWN Istanbul are carried out voluntarily by members from different age groups in different sectors and specialties. C-Level executives make up 34 percent of our member profile. All works at PWN Istanbul are flexible and interaction-oriented with the logic of the circle. Our volunteer leaders are trying to realize our projects with our working groups in line with the two-year strategic plan. Member interaction, events, corporate stakeholders, diversity and inclusion, strategic collaborations, entrepreneurship, technology, marketing, mentoring, PWN Youth are some of our volunteer working groups.

How do you evaluate the gender-balanced leadership rates in Turkey and their development over the years?

Gender-balanced leadership is essential for sustainable growth and prosperous society. In the Gender Inequality Report published by the World Economic Forum every year, Turkey fell three places and took 133rd place. This means that women are getting poorer. Fewer women are involved in politics, fewer women can stay in employment for a long time, and more women become pregnant and die as children. The situation of women in our country is worrying when we take the 21st century’s living standards into consideration. Inclusiveness and equality of opportunity should be in all areas of social life for a prosperous society, instead of discrimination. Awareness and unity are important for gender equality. For this reason, we invite especially male CEOs in the business world to take responsibility for gender equality with our Equality Ambassador CEO project for years. Over 100 CEOs responded to our call and have become our equality ambassadors. For the last two years, we have paid special attention to young people. Our equality ambassadors at universities carry out activities to raise awareness about gender inequality. Our trainings with institutions and youth continue within the body of PWN Academy.

As PWN Istanbul, what kind of development opportunity do you offer women?

In PWN, it is possible to take advantage of both global and local development opportunities. Mentoring and research reports since our establishment, activities we regularly carry out every year. In cooperation with Mercer, the As Women Shine research is held biennially and we support this research as a strategic partner. Last year, we matched 300 mentors in the process of peer mentoring, reverse mentoring and university student mentoring. We attach great importance to accelerating interaction and social learning among our members. For nearly a year and a half, 170 members of our Women’s Circles practice have been involved in eight-week communication circles in groups of seven. Within the scope of PWN Academy, we organize training and workshops based on equality, inclusion and self-awareness. VEP (Online Entrepreneurship Program), organized in cooperation with the global scale IE School, is entering its third year.

We also organize sectoral programs. The first phase of the “Women Leaders in Global Health Development Initiative”, implemented by Boğaziçi University Lifelong Learning Center (BÜYEM) and PWN Istanbul with the support of UN SDSN and Awen for Us, has started. Within the scope of the program, senior leaders of many health and pharmaceutical companies, members and volunteers of PWN Istanbul, come together with the participants. The program also offers the opportunity to complete the Harvard University additional modules and the “Women in Leadership: Emerging Leaders” online certificate program. This program makes us very excited. I can say that it has made a significant contribution to the network in terms of talent development in the sector.

Can you tell us about the advantages of the support programs provided by PWN Istanbul to women?

I can say that the support programs of PWN Istanbul are quite effective. We see from the program evaluation results that our members who benefit from our programs have increased self-awareness and use their personal networks more effectively. The overall satisfaction level varies between 93-97%. Seeing our members who were promoted with the support they received from the program, preferring different career routes, and that almost all of our participants recommend our programs make us happy and encourage us. PWN Istanbul provides women with a natural sharing and learning environment. Women coming together from different sectors see that they have similar concerns and problems, and when they see that they can get through difficult times by supporting each other, they are motivated by this social environment.

Could you tell us about PWN Istanbul’s short and medium-term goals, strategies and projects?

As PWN Istanbul, our strategic plan consists of three areas: Network that Connects, Network that Takes Action, and Network that Makes Impact. It is important for us to establish bonds and interactions among our members. We try to encourage women and make them feel good. Our monthly online and face-to-face events, mentoring services and women’s circles will continue. In the strategic plan of the new period, instead of more corporate stakeholders, we focus on programs that will strengthen our sphere of influence with our existing stakeholders. Our Health Leaders program, Equality Ambassadors, Young PWN initiative is our focus during this period. We also established our entrepreneurship working group in 2021.

Here, our focus is to develop the innovation and creativity competencies of young people, starting from adolescence, and to encourage them in the field of technology. We also like to introduce the NGO world to them and to be with them in our volunteer projects. We attach importance to stakeholder collaborations in our sphere of influence. With our Let’s Start Again program in cooperation with Datassist, our project to get women who quit their business life back into employment will continue. As an association, an important focus area in our new term will be to ensure our digital transformation.

The Transformation in the Business World will Have Positive Effects on Women

Unfortunately, the gender equality scorecard of the pandemic in Turkey is not very bright. Serious problems such as domestic violence, increased housework and unemployment were experienced. I still believe that this period will be effective in changing perceptions in social roles in the long run. The effects of COVID-19 and quarantine measures on gender inequality continue to be discussed in public. Unexpected changes in the labor market have the potential to reorganize the division of labor and responsibility at home. Academic studies focusing on the impact of unexpected crises in contemporary life on the gendered division of labor show that gender roles can change to adapt to behavior or circumstances. The transformation in the business world has accelerated after the pandemic and I believe that this transformation will have positive effects on women. In order to change perceptions, it is necessary to persist in legal and social change programs.