I arrived at the UNLV International Gaming Institute with a remarkable experience in my back pocket: while working at the American Gaming Association previously, I managed Global Gaming Women, a truly inspiring mentorship, educational and networking program dedicated to creating a powerful support system of women in the gaming community. This led me to UNLV to build upon this foundation with the unique skills a Ph.D. confers – specifically, research skills to help shed light on gender in the workplace. These tools are very much needed, as I have seen first-hand just how slow progress is for women in the gaming industry — and how data can help us achieve our common objectives.
And the data are powerful (and certainly not unique to gaming):
- Women only hold 11 percent of board seats at the top 10 highest-grossing international gaming operators.
- Only two gaming operators of the 10 (MGM Resorts International and Penn National Gaming) approach the commonly-cited 30 percent objective for female board representation (27 percent and 25 percent, respectively).
- Finally, four of the top 10 operators (40 percent) have no (0) women on their boards.
Of course, many companies have very strong programs when it comes to women in the workplace—but data like these reveal that we still have a long way to go. Universities, of course, can provide a research-based, data-driven series of solutions—and when we ground our perspectives in data, we eliminate some of the often-heated “punditry” perspectives to focus on what’s real and measurable. Moving forward, this is what we need: we need measurable standards; we need to apply the most appropriate performance metrics; and we need visible goals set by courageous leaders.
We need to:
1. Remodel policies, structures and cultures. The American workplace has transformed. Over the past 40 years, the composition of the U.S. workforce has changed dramatically, particularly with the boom of working mothers. In 1975, only 47% percent of women with children under the age of 18 worked; by 2015, this number has risen to nearly 70%.
Today’s working parents, both men and women, are more involved in childrearing than ever before. Chauffeuring children to and from soccer practice, tutoring and violin lessons is a common weeknight ritual for both parents. In fact, the average mother spends four more hours each week on childcare than her 1965 counterpart while the average father’s weekly childcare time has nearly tripled in that time. Today’s demanding parenting practices only exacerbate the stress working parents face – in fact, half (53%) of all working parents with children under 18 find it is difficult to balance the responsibility of their job with their family.
To recruit and retain top talent, and harness the full capacity of gaming’s diverse workforce, gaming leadership needs to understand the demanding reality of working parents, a substantial percentage of their workforce, and their changing needs and values. Gaming workplaces must provide fair policies and procedures for employees to have both fulfilling work and home lives, without being stigmatized for it. This is certainly not limited to, but may include:
- Guaranteed maternity and paternity leave. The assurance that an employee will not only have their current position when they return from leave, but will not penalized or miss out on advancement opportunity because of it.
- Flexible work hours. Corporate structures that reward employees not for how many how hours they put in, but how effective and efficient they are. Although many companies now offer this flexibility in scheduling, telecommuting or shorted workweeks, employees are hesitant to take it for fear of the flexibility stigma. Employees may not take leave even if it’s offered for fear of social judgement by coworkers, fear of career penalty, or worse.
- Setting realistic expectations. With smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices deeply rooted in our daily lives, workers feel obligated to 24/7 availability. This demanding expectation often leads to working extreme hours, unpredictable schedules, infringes upon important family time, and creates an unhealthy work-life balance.
Researchers can help industry leadership experiment with these types of policies, and then track productivity and overall employee satisfaction. Finally, researchers and employers can work together to offer effective measures to change current structures or help design new, customized policies that fit the company’s culture.
2. Make pay equity open and transparent. Awareness is the first step to change. Google, Microsoft, Apple, EBay, Facebook and many more Silicon Valley companies have all signed on to openly share their employees’ salaries and make gender pay equity a priority. Gaming should follow this lead. Transparent pay not only holds companies accountable, but leads to more satisfied employees, increased trust in leadership from within, and enhancement of the brand’s reputation.
3. Unthaw the “frozen middle”. While three-quarters of companies tracked by a recent study named gender diversity as a priority of executive leadership, only one-third said that advancing women is a priority for their direct boss—a phenomenon known as the “frozen middle.” And the key to thawing out the frozen middle is getting middle managers to think beyond day-to-day operational issues on the floor and see that their actions may be creating barriers for women to the top, even if it’s completely unintentional. A university can offer a unique, credible voice when it comes to this charge. Researchers can help industry provide on-the-ground, expert training to help middle managers better understand how unconscious bias and tired, old gender stereotypes can influence the hiring, retention and advancement of women to the top by offering data-driven HR workshops, diversity training, and career development programs. These resources may be something a gaming-hospitality company wants now, but just doesn’t have the time or bandwidth to fully address in a demanding, 24/7 business. Academia can help.
This is on all of us.
Put simply, workplaces with greater female representation just perform better. It’s in all of our interests — industry and academe alike, personal and professional, men, women, the Vegas community and beyond. For your daughter, your wife, your mother, your sister, your coworker or your friend in gaming. While conversations on issues like this can devolve into (understandably) passionate debate, we must all work together if we want to see change in the industry.
