International Women's Day: Here's what business leaders and parents should know about the value of girls

With all the headlines on gender diversity, workplace harassment and equal pay, have we come a long way, baby? International Women's Day, which is Thursday, is a good time to look at this question. Studies show that having more women in senior management jobs improves the financial performance of companies. And having more female members of company boards helps companies deal more effectively with risk and brings other benefits as well. Despite this, there has been scant progress in increasing the number of women in leadership roles in the past 10 years.