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Are Women Being Pushed Out Of The Legal Weed Industry?

Are Women Being Pushed Out Of The Legal Weed Industry?

Business

Are Women Being Pushed Out Of The Legal Weed Industry?

Women used to be at the head of the cannabis space. But now, are women being pushed out of the legal weed industry?

Are women being pushed out of the legal weed industry? The legal cannabis business has been known to be inclusive. But judging from recent business reports, it seems that all of that could be changing. Now that legalization is becoming mainstream, will women find themselves being edged out?

Industry Sexism

Are Women Being Pushed Out Of The Legal Weed Industry?

In the beginning stages of the legal cannabis industry, women were at the forefront. One of the reasons for this is that the legal weed industry is still quite new.

Unlike older, more established industries, business women were more easily able to assume more and leadership roles.

In 2015, a study from the Pew Research Center showed that women occupied 36 percent of executive positions in the cannabis industry.

This statistic gave hope to a lot of women in business. Since sexism is so prevalent in virtually every industry, women were excited about the prospect of being treated fairly and taken seriously without having to fight so hard against the status quo.

In addition to executive positions, women in the cannabis industry organized amongst themselves. Organizations like Women Grow and Supernova Women were created specifically to empower women in the world of weed and foster more growth in the industry.

Women occupy every field within the space, from growing to opening dispensaries. But now, all of that progress could be moving in reverse.

According to new reports, the percentage of female executives in cannabis businesses in the United States has dropped significantly in just one year. Specifically, it dropped from 36 percent all the way down to 27 percent.

While the percentage of female executives is still higher than the average of other industries (a pitiful 23 percent), this plummet is cause for concern.

One expert asserted a reason for this. He blames the fact that more and more weed businesses are bringing in executives from outside of the cannabis space.

Specifically, from the corporate world, which tends to have far more men execs than women execs. Financing biases may also be a factor in the recent drop.

Final Hit: Are Women Being Pushed Out Of The Legal Weed Industry?

The statistics come from a survey conducted this month. 576 executes in the cannabis industry participated in an anonymous survey.

Because this is a small sample size, the numbers presented in the report might be a bit skewed. Still, we shouldn’t take the drop in the percentage of female executives in the cannabis industry lightly.

Are women being pushed out of the legal weed industry? If the major players in the cannabis industry want to continue the trend of being progressive, then they need to take some necessary steps.

More women need to occupy leadership positions in all areas of the industry. At the same time, they need to continue to support each other.

Until now, the legal cannabis space has been a shining beacon of hope for women in executive roles. It would be an utter travesty to let that fall apart.

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