Disney Ranked as Pacesetter on Womens Power & Influence Index

A few weeks ago The Difference Engine released the ranking for BlackRock, a multinational investment company, on The Women’s Power and Influence Index*.* Today we are excited to share where the multinational mass media and entertainment company, Disney, is placed on the Index.

The Women’s Power and Influence Index is a product of The Difference Engine that ranks the power of women at the workplace.

The Index is a publicly available ranking metric with the eventual goal of quantifying equity. Developed by a multi-disciplinary team of Arizona State University students, staff and faculty, the Index analyzes Equal Employment Opportunity data as well as publicly available information from large companies and organizations in order to build a quantitive measure of workplace inequality as well as encourage these institutions to adopt more equitable policies.

Notably, the team behind the Index develops measurement criteria through wide-ranging surveys of women at the workplace. By indexing companies based on what truly matters to women, ASU’s Difference Engine hopes to help both women in existing career paths as well as women seeking a new career or position in companies.

Disney is categorized as a “Pacesetter” based on the Index’s comprehensive measurement criteria. Organizations categorized as Pacesetters on the Index have some policies and procedures that focus on developing a inclusive workplace for all people, including women, but are lacking some of the essential components that make up a truly progressive and equity focused organization. Disney has strong efforts mixed with shortcomings, resulting in their mid-grade rating on the Index’s measurement metrics.

Some of the reasons for Disney’s mid-grade position on the Index include:

• Based on the most recent EEO data, just 38.3% of Disney executives are women while 50.6% of the workforce is female.
• In FY21 Disney held an internal DEI speaker series, the Reimagine Tomorrow Conversations, alongside their recurring DEI workshops and learning programs (i.e. Everyday Inclusion, Leading Inclusively, and Hiring Inclusively).
• Through their Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program, Disney engages their community and promotes gender equality by offering young women exposure to technology jobs and skills.
• We could not find any information regarding Disney’s professional development programs or experiences, mentorship programs, caregiver paid time off (PTO), and health benefits.

These, and other trend lines are the result of our team's months-long data collection and analysis process that includes analyzing data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to searching publicly available information and documents related to Union Pacific.

In addition to shining a light on the status of women at the workplace, the Index’s secondary goal is to encourage organizations to begin adopting more equitable practices. One way we do this is to make Index data publicly accessible so that anyone, from employees, candidates, company investors, shareholders, journalists or civil society advocates - all can have insight into the ways our country's biggest companies are treating women at the workplace.

Learn more about why Disney is ranked as a Pacesetter on the WPI by reading Disney’s company profile.

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