Davos: Impressions of a First-Time Attendee
“So — what was Davos like?”
After the prestigious honour of being selected as one of the 49 Global Shapers to attend the 2019 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (“Davos”), it’s the question everyone has been asking me.
My short answer is: there’s no short answer.
But I’ll try to summarise my most eye-opening impressions.
Before getting into the more challenging aspects, I want to share some highlights. By virtue of having so many of the world’s most powerful leaders together in one venue, discussions happen, deals get made, and opportunities arise that would likely never have occurred otherwise. Davos has great potential to accelerate social and environmental solutions to some of the most pressing challenges society faces, and it was inspiring to meet individual and corporate delegates who are doing much to positively impact our world.
Additionally, through conversations that I had with some of the delegates, doors — possibly very big ones — have been opened for the charity I founded, Spark Inside (see blog here), and the Global Shapers London Hub, which I co-lead. That is a tremendous privilege.
It’s also a biased privilege, as I uncomfortably found out: one that was not available equally to all delegates.
Diversity at Davos
Gender equality was on the agenda at Davos — but not in the way I expected.
Or should I say ‘gender neutrality’, which was the preferential term that the Young Presidents Organisation selected at Davos, so that it wouldn’t be seen as “giving an advantage to women.”
On the opening evening for this year’s Annual Meeting, I attended a Women’s Reception where we were told that the percentage of female delegates had more than doubled to 22% over the past 15 years. Last year, all the co-chairs for the conference were female. On the face of it, that’s progress.
But underneath those numbers is a different story.
One would think that a conference attended by the world’s business and political leaders would be one of the safest places anyone could be. But before the Annual Meeting had even started, the female Global Shapers were advised, with the best of intentions, to be careful during the evening parties and at night, because of the potential risk of sexual harassment at Davos as experienced in past years.
At the Davos opening Women’s Reception, with some male allies in attendance, I asked a question: why is it that in 2019, young female delegates are forewarned about sexual harassment — as if it’s our responsibility to protect ourselves — but the delegates themselves aren’t given training on how (or why) not to harass? There was no answer, other than a murmuring recognition that it was a known issue: many of the women who attended in past years had personal experience of sexual harassment.
One male delegate told me that during a brief one-to-one meeting, a powerful male attendee had commented on the attractiveness and his sexual interest in at least four different female delegates as they passed by. This delegate was shocked that such objectification would occur in this context.
And then I heard the whispers of what happens at night, at the parties, in the hotel lobbies and at the famous piano bar where it was an unspoken understanding that some men “took off their wedding rings. ” Almost all my male colleagues commented on the presence of female escorts at these venues, many of which were guest-list only, or required a hotel badge to access. A quick online search displayed a number of articles (examples here or here) confirming that the existence of and easy access to escorts at Davos is nothing new, and for some delegates, could be a strong motivator to attend.
It was sobering to have to acknowledge that women do not always have the psychological safety or respect of being treated as professionals at Davos. It was also disappointing to realise that the organisers, corporate sponsors and main hotels associated with Davos might not only ignore the presence of female escorts at their events but actually facilitate it.
However, it’s not just about women. Davos is a global conference, representing business and political leaders — not just white Europeans and Americans. Yet, delegates of colour, among other minority groups, seemed to be far underrepresented (although there have been increases in diversity at Davos over the years). I overheard white delegates making overt and degrading racist comments to delegates of colour.
Again, I would have expected more from people in positions of power who chose to attend a conference on improving the state of the world.
Clearly, we have a long ways to go.
We need systems change
It’s not enough to have a quota at Davos for female leaders or a session on diversity and inclusion.
It’s not enough to turn a blind eye to a culture that appears to tolerate harassment.
It’s not enough to increase the attendance of young people by inviting Global Shapers, particularly when those from underrepresented backgrounds will likely have a less pleasant experience.
We can and should expect more from our world leaders, and from the World Economic Forum that convenes them at this unique event.
Unfortunately, the root of the problem is not with Davos, or the World Economic Forum; it’s obviously with broader society. The issues I describe taking place at Davos are a microcosm of global inequalities.
So what can we do?
To solve these challenges, I believe we are best-placed to work with existing systems and improve them. Each of us needs to do our part. It cannot be left to those who are being marginalised to stand up for themselves, or to find the solution to the problem.
The World Economic Forum is uniquely positioned to show courageous leadership here, by cultivating these values internally and at all of its events. It should be taking steps to demonstrate its commitment to diversity and inclusion such as empowering specialists to tackle these issues head-on. It can also raise awareness of the need for delegates in positions of power and privilege to educate and challenge their peers if they make derogatory remarks about others — even if that means the risk of losing out on a deal.
Prof. Klaus Schwab has stated: “The World Economic Forum will continue to promote gender equality as a core value for humanity and as one of the pathways to inclusive economic progress.” I expect that he would make the same case for racial and other forms of diversity as part of the need for inclusion.
Next year’s Davos should look and feel very different for all its delegates — men, women, people of colour, the LGBTQI+ community, people with disabilities, of all ages and income levels — as the World Economic Forum aspires to embrace true diversity and inclusion.
The World Economic Forum, its corporate members and individual delegates have the tremendous potential to make significant, positive improvements to our world at a time when these changes are needed urgently. Some of the behaviours and practices exhibited by the world’s most powerful people undermine our shared commitment to a better world, for all of us.
We should raise our expectations and demand accountability.
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