[File] Gender equality in companies, where do we stand (really)?
10/5/2016

[File] Gender equality in companies, where do we stand (really)?

Gender equality in companies, where are we (really)?

It is not necessary to wait until 8 March each year to talk about professional equality and the place of women in companies.

When we talk about this place, it is not uncommon to get three types of reactions:

  • The first ones are from people who don't even know what we are talking about ("the glass ceiling of what?"),
  • The second, more sceptical/angry ones, who feel that too much is being done and that we are only adding complexity to the business world ("we're already trying not to get ubercised, right?"),
  • And finally, the third group are convinced that (gender) diversity is a real opportunity for the company ("It's obvious") but that it is still difficult for a woman to advance as easily as a man in her career. We will not distinguish here between those who still hope to make progress and those who have thrown in the towel...

On 8 March, we wanted to give a voice to those people who believe that gender diversity is a matter of course and that it is good for business. Not just any people: men. Men who are committed through their convictions and actions to a more mixed and equal society and organisations. This is why we have launched the #Icare4her campaign on YouTube and other social networks.

(Re)watch the videos on Youtube

It was an opportunity to explore with them the subject of gender equality in companies in 2016, with figures in particular, and to note, as Françoise Gri did, that the "glass ceiling", which hinders women's professional progress, remains a reality in the world of work.

Half-hearted figures

At Talentis, we work all year long on the subject of gender diversity in companies and female leadership. Research, documentation, studies (Gallup, Catalyst, Women Equity...), all the scientific material proves it: the most egalitarian companies are also the most successful.

It is certain that mentalities have evolved positively over the last ten years, helped by political commitment (not to mention pressure), notably in France with the Copé-Zimmermann and Sauvadet laws , which set a minimum threshold of 40% of women on the boards of directors and supervisory boards of large private and public companies by 2017.

So we looked for some recent and updated figures to check that the positive shift in attitudes towards gender equality had correlated with a real increase in gender equality and here is what we found.

  1. The objective of reaching 40% of women on boards of directors by 2017 remains a major undertaking, particularly for unlisted companies(editor's note: over 500 employees and a turnover of more than €50 million), which are far from achieving this goal, with only 14.2% of women sitting on their boards. In 2015, 1,500 companies were given formal notice and 48 were sanctioned for failing to meet the parity targets imposed by the law. While efforts to make the composition of boards more equal are real, 95% of the chairmanship of these boards is still held by men.
  2. Moreover, while the pay gap has indeed decreased, it still takes women three months longer to reach the average annual earnings of men.
  3. Since 3 May, two women have been at the helm of a CAC 40 company, Sophie Bellon at the head of SODEXO and Isabelle Kocher at the head of ENGIE. Only one woman chairs the supervisory board of a CAC 40 company, Elisabeth Badinter at Publicis.
  4. Yes, there is some improvement. In companies listed on the stock exchange, the law has been applied fairly easily, particularly with regard to the 20% of women on boards of directors that had to be reached in 2014. Today, the CAC 40 has 34% women on its boards and the SBF120. The pay gap is decreasing faster in France than in Europe (from 16.9% to 15.2% between 2008 and 2013 in France compared to 17.3% to 16.4% in Europe)
  5. On a global scale, Grant Thornton International explains in its annual report that the proportion of women in executive positions is around 24%, up two points from 22% last year.

Very low/slow progress of gender equality in the company

Despite the commitments made, rates are increasing very slowly, as shown in this diagram from Women in the Workplace

Women in the Workplace diagram

Source Women in The Workplace

During our interventions and discussions with various stakeholders in the companies we work with on this subject, we see how difficult it is for organisations and employees to get started. Why, for example, when there is a growing consensus on the positive impact of gender diversity in companies, have some companies decided to adopt a strategy of circumventing the Copé-Zimmermann law by reducing the number of seats on their board of directors in order to distort the proportion of women?

In the same Women in the Workplace study, only 37% of women and 49% of men surveyed felt that gender diversity was a priority for their CEO, whereas 74% of CEOs surveyed said that gender diversity was a priority on their company's strategic agenda. It has already been proven that without a clear commitment (real or experienced) from top management, no action in favour of gender diversity is sustainable.

Why it's still progressing

Since 21 March, a woman, Sophie Bellon, has been at the head of a CAC 40 company, joined on 3 May by Isabelle Kocher. This is a first since the creation of the index in 1987.

In 1977, 2/3 of Americans thought it was " much better for everyone if the man was the one who succeeded outside the home while the woman took care of the home and family ". In 1994, 2/3 of Americans disagreed with this statement.

Business performance and talent attraction

Legal and regulatory obligations are not the only reasons why gender diversity in companies is on the rise, and fortunately so! Companies, aware that they can no longer afford to miss out on the talent pool that women represent, have made recruiting and retaining the best profiles a real battle.

As early as 2007, McKinsey wrote "gender diversity is a performance driver in business". A shortage of 24 million working people is expected in 2040. If the employment rate for women were to reach that of men, this shortage would be only 3 million workers.

Moreover, studies all prove that gender diversity is a real performance driver. Companies with no women on their boards underperform by an average of 18%, and those with more than 35% women in management generally grow by more than 60% compared to those that remain male.

This has helped to gradually break out of the apathy so well described in the book " Mixité, quand les hommes s'engagent" . The more media attention the subject receives, the greater the awareness of the costs associated with gender bias and the opportunities that gender diversity brings, the less possible it is to ignore the subject.

As Marie-Christine Maheas, co-author of Mixité, quand les hommes s'engagent , puts it

"Gender diversity is a key driver of innovation, gender diversity helps to attract and retain talent within the company, gender diversity facilitates transformation, gender diversity generates increased customer satisfaction and retention, and gender diversity is synonymous with a greater capacity to transform when necessary, particularly in times of crisis (...)".

Citizen and media mobilisation

Over the past five years, civil society, aided by the power of social networks and the visibility of certain celebrities, has largely taken up the subject.

Examples include Emma Watson's commitment to the #HeforShe Nations initiative, Jennifer Lawrence's open letter in favour of equal pay in Hollywood, the #NeverWithoutWomen collective to develop greater parity in public events ... It is true that culture is particularly unequal in terms of representation and awards.

Share of women among the winners of major cultural prizes between 2010 and 2015
Share of women among experts/guests in selected news programs

Source: Ministry for Families, Children and Women's Rights

Going further to advance gender equality in business

What can companies do to go further?

Women's networks and HRDs took up the issue a decade ago, but this is no longer enough to advance gender equality in companies. Gender diversity is now a question of inclusion, performance and, finally, a real transformation project. Gender diversity requires a real change in corporate culture, which takes time, where women not only have the means to develop their leadership, but are also convinced that they have as much chance as men to do so.

Even today, 43% of women surveyed in the Women in the Workplace study (cited above) feel that they have fewer opportunities than men to progress in their careers. A majority of companies offer career development programmes, but many women and men are reluctant to use them for fear of being penalised.

What we see today is that there are as many situations as there are companies. The issue of diversity is multidimensional and cannot be dealt with in the same way for all companies. A recent article by McKinsey (eng) published in March 2016 suggests that each organisation should first identify at which stage it is losing the most female talent.

McKinsey has identified three bottlenecks: recruitment ('unable to enter'), middle management ('stuck at the middle') and leadership positions ('locked out of the top'). This allows organisations to focus on their own talent drain in a more strategic way.

Breaking the taboo of parenthood

In McKinsey's Women in the Workplace study (cited above), 65% of women with children surveyed said they were unwilling to take on a leadership role for fear of not being able to balance family and work life. At the same time, more than 90% of women and men also believe that taking more parental leave will have a negative impact on their career. Yet when Google increased maternity leave by six weeks, HR found that they were able to reduce the erosion of female talent by 50%.

A 2011 study by the Center for Work and Family at Boston College found that 65% of fathers surveyed agreed that fathers and mothers should care for children equally. 72% of 18-29 year olds in the US say that the best marriages are those in which men and women share careers and families.

But when family obligations clash with ambitions, it is women who mostly decide to slow down their advancement, either by quitting all work or by choosing to work part-time, even though an average of 70% of them want to reach positions of responsibility in their careers.

Part-time work by gender and family status in 2014

This is all the more 'understandable' given that, for the same qualifications, skills and job, women are paid less than men and are less represented in jobs where flexibility is available, particularly in terms of working hours and location. Flexibility in working hours is the top priority for employed parents surveyed by the Observatory of Time Balance and Parenthood in Companies (June 2015 barometer). The Observatory promotes good HR practices in favour of working parents among companies. Some 500 companies, including Areva, Renault, Bouygues and Orange, have adopted the parenthood charter.

Support to be put in place very early in the company

As we have seen, the public visibility of gender equality and gender mainstreaming in companies has increased considerably in recent years. However, the figures are changing very little and at a very slow pace. At this rate, parity in companies will not be achieved until 2095.

Continue to fight stereotypes and unconscious bias in business

Like Google and its training on unconscious bias or Randstad, which has trained more than 800 managers on the fight against stereotypes, it is important to lift the veil on the stereotypes that hold women back in companies. However, as Brigitte Laloupe, author of "Pourquoi les femmes gagnent moins que les hommes", explains, it is from a very young age that we should be talking about these psychosocial mechanisms that hinder professional equality. According to Michel Ferrary, founder of the Skema Observatory on the feminisation of CAC40 companies, "parents reproduce the sexual identity of professions in their children: they will be surprised if their daughter wants to work in the automobile or construction sectors (...)".

Continue to fight stereotypes and unconscious bias in business

Millennials test gender diversity

The question of gender mix and diversity is in fact one that probably needs to be asked even more. Not least because half of all working people in 2020 will be from Generation Y. In a study by Deloitte, 83% of Millennials surveyed said they were more engaged when the company culture promoted inclusion and collaboration. These young professionals are the most diverse generation in history. Only 59% are Caucasian and 27% have parents or grandparents of immigrant background.

According to a PWC study, Millennial women are more ambitious and confident about their career development, 66% earn as much as or more than their spouse and 53% make career opportunities the number one attraction of a company.

At the same time, 71% of female Millennials surveyed say that diversity is an issue that organisations address, but still feel that they will have fewer opportunities than men, particularly because 43% feel that employers are 'male-biased', especially in France, Ireland and Spain.

It is probably necessary to rethink the approach to gender diversity in companies, to adapt it to definitions/conceptions of gender diversity that have evolved without assuming that Millennials will not have (unconscious) stereotypes when recruiting or promoting someone. Especially since in the Deloitte study cited above, Millennials surveyed defined inclusion as a culture of connection that facilitates teamwork, collaboration and professional growth, and positively affects a company's business results, rather than as equal opportunity for women and men.

When it comes to gender diversity, Gen Y men's positions are not very far ahead of those of previous generations. A Harvard Business Review article published in December 2014 ("Rethink what you "know" about high-achieving women") showed that there should be no shortcuts when associating gender diversity with genY. Young male Millennials are 50% more likely to think their career is more important than their spouse's and 66% more likely to think that their spouse should be the primary caregiver.

The company of tomorrow at the service of gender diversity

There is no doubt that gender diversity is making progress in companies, largely helped by the mobilisation of the public and the media. However, year after year, the efforts made tend to diminish, with too much focus on "female leadership" and probably not enough on gender diversity, retention and development. Yet these subjects are at the heart of the company of tomorrow, the one that will remain innovative, attract all the talents and stay one step ahead of its competitors.

At a time when all large companies are thinking about new management methods and forms of work adapted to younger generations that are more flexible, more mobile but also more demanding, it is urgent and crucial that they reinvent their approach to gender diversity, not because they risk a fine (which is ridiculous because it is so small), but because they no longer have the luxury of depriving themselves of diverse skills and experience to enrich their teams.

Summary of the most effective measures for advancing gender equality in companies

1) A clear and strong commitment from top management

2) Raising awareness and combating gender stereotypes which suggest that women are less ambitious/available etc. 

3) Adopt a flexible approach to work and management that focuses on results rather than presenteeism

4) Accompanying the youngest employees on these subjects

5) Create spaces for discussion and reflection between employees of both sexes to exchange views on this subject.

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