Chief Operating Officer, Dow
Search every verified Karen Carter interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Karen S. Carter, Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Inclusion Officer at Dow, has spoken about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women in the workforce. She stated that women lost twice as many jobs as men globally, and that in the U.S., women's labor force participation fell to 57.4%, a level not seen since 1988. Carter also said the pandemic added 36 years to the estimated time to close the global gender gap, making it an average of 135.6 years to reach parity. She advocated for increased workplace flexibility as one action organizations can take to help level the playing field, enabling women to manage work and life priorities while advancing their careers. Carter has also discussed business ethics and diversity. She described the importance of setting expectations, providing training, and implementing consistent consequences for ethical behavior in organizations. Carter stated that diverse organizations achieve maximum financial results by bringing different perspectives to the table. She noted that Dow has facilitated conversations on difficult topics such as race, same-sex marriage, and politics, and that building a culture of trust allows for these discussions, which she said could help better society and result in more ethical behavior.
“Since the beginning of COVID-19, women lost twice as many jobs than men globally; in the U.S., women's labor force participation fell to 57.4%, a level not seen since 1988. The pandemic added 36 years to the estimated time to close the global gender gap, meaning it will now take an average of 135.6 years to reach parit...”
“One action organizations can take to help level the playing field is to provide increased workplace flexibility. This means expanding the options for where, how, and when work gets done by providing more flexibility. This enables women and everyone to better manage their work and life priorities while still meeting com...”
“The reality is that when you have a diverse organization, which by the way is the way to get maximum financial results because you get all those different perspectives to the table.”
“We build that into our culture so we can teach people how to do that when they leave the workplace, which I would contend would help better our entire society and ultimately result in more ethical behavior.”
Next up on #MIWomenWednesday, a campaign to celebrate Michigan’s trail-blazers, ceiling-busters and ladder-builders: Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Inclusion Officer for Dow, Karen S. Carter! Join us here on Wednesday's to meet women who are changing the face of leadership in Michigan.
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