Last weekend, millions of people around the world descended upon the streets to march for women’s rights. While gender inequality remains an issue in both the government and overall workforce, the cannabis industry has proven to attract a large number of female employees, executives, and entrepreneurs.
Currently, around 36 percent of the executive positions in businesses that grow, test, sell, or market cannabis products are held by women. According to a survey conducted by the Marijuana Business Daily in 2015, there are certain sectors that seem to appeal to women more so than others. The survey is comprised of data from 632 cannabis executives and professionals, and shows that the industry has successfully subverted gender inequality in many ways.
For instance, 63 percent of the leadership positions in cannabis testing laboratories are held by women, while nearly 50 percent hold positions in companies that produce cannabis-infused foods and other products.
Compared to the gender ratio issues in other industries, the survey findings bode quite favorably for gender equity. Of all US venture capitalist-backed tech startups, only 9 percent are led by women. On top of that, only 5.4 percent hold CEO positions at Fortune 1000 companies. The lack of gender disparity in the cannabis industry can be attributed to a few reasons.
First off, the legal cannabis market generally attracts liberal minded and progressive people that are less likely to uphold outdated gender traditions. Another plausible reason is that the industry is extremely youthful, helping to eliminate the system of patriarchy found in many other businesses.
Still, there are some areas in the cannabis industry where female participation is sparse, specifically in cultivation and investment. The Marijuana Business Daily survey also showed that just 28 percent of executives involved in the marijuana investment field are women. Although the industry promotes gender equity more so than most, female cannabis investor and consultant Greta Carter acknowledges that full-fledged equality has yet to be reached.
"I walk into a room and time after time it’s 20 men and me," she said. “I don’t want to give the country a fallacy that there’s not a glass ceiling in the industry because there is.”
Although there are still gender discrepancies in certain areas of the cannabis sector, the budding industry has ultimately proven to be stronghold for female entrepreneurs and executives. The noted involvement of women in cannabis will likely continue to grow, offering yet another reason for why this emerging industry is so distinctly progressive.
