Last year, Equileap, a European-based non-profit company that monitors gender equality in the workplace, named General Motors the number one company in the world for gender equality. A new study from the non-profit looks at the top 100 U.S. based companies for gender quality, again naming General Motors number one.Â
The new study not only looks at several of the same factors as before, including Equileap’s 19 core criteria that focus on workforce, senior management, and board of directors gender balance, pay, parental leave, and more. For this U.S.-centered study, the non-profit added two additional criteria related to company health plans. General Motors earned a score of 71 from Equileap and an overall grade of B+. Johnson & Johnson and Bank of America also earned a B+ grade, but had an overall score of 68.Â
GM CEO Mary Barra (left) and CFO Dhivya Suryadevara (right).
Equileap applauded General Motors for having no overall gender pay gap, awarding the Detroit automaker full marks in that category. GM is the only company from the study that publishes its overall gender pay gap—which is less than three percent.
General Motors did not do well when Equileap analyzed the company’s health care plans, which looked at health coverage for all employees and access to maternal healthcare and family planning services. Here, GM ranked 89th. The study did not dive down into why GM earned such a low score. Equileap analyzed whether companies offered health plans to full- and part-time employees, premium subsidies, and contraception coverage. However, GM’s abysmal health care coverage ranking did not knock it from the study’s top spot for overall gender equality.Â
Appointing Mary Barra to GM’s CEO singled a change in the industry. She was the first female automotive executive, and since her appointment, the company has focused on gender equality throughout the company. Since Barra’s appointment in 2014, GM has joined the Equal Pay Pledge, partnered with Girls Who Code, and promoted diversity.Â
