Ad agency Burson-Marstellar has a new initiative to help companies close the gender gap. According to PRWeek, the program will help companies with communications to "help all levels of leadership recognize the importance of women in executive roles and gender balance across the workplace":

Burson-Marsteller plans to leverage its research and data analytics to produce "evidence-based campaigns," including internal audits, perception analyses and research and message testing on women audiences.

This matters to companies partly because women make 90% of household purchase decisions.

The World Economic Forum has a Gender Gap Calculator that shows how old you'll be when the gap is eliminated, mediated by your home country. I'll be 169 years old. 

Of course communication is only part of the issue. Companies can make themselves more attractive to women leaders and encourage directors and senior managers to hire women, but a culture shift within an organization takes years, and we have a lot more work to do.

Discussion Starters: 

• How would you describe the impact of the gender gap on men and women?
• How can communication help? In other words, how will Burson-Marstellar be working with companies?