An excerpt appears below.  Click here to read the full article, written by Cherise Bernard, on Spotify.

For years, women across the world have fought steadily to be recognized as the leaders, experts and change-makers so many of them have been, and continue to be. This year as we welcome in another Women’s History Month however, the challenge is for us all to elevate. 

Listening Begins With Making Space

Let’s take a look at a few statistics: currently, only about 8% of Fortune 500 companies boast women CEOs. When we take a look at the audio industry, researchers from USC Annenberg found (in a study of popular songs from 2012 to 2018) that women make up 21.7% of artists, 12.3% of songwriters, and just 2.1% of producers. When looking at these stats, we must remind ourselves that the opportunity to truly flex our power to listen to women means that we must make the space for women to lead, to influence and to create in every industry. At Spotify (and many other companies) with Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (DIB) priorities, gender representation is measurable and normally the top metric that is reported. But we must do more! As we focus on representation, we must also amplify the voices of the women on our teams, provide opportunities to lead and create ecosystems that are priming women for success. 

Click here to read the full article, written by Cherise Bernard, on Spotify.