Parity in this stock index? The presence of women reaches 35.8% in boards of directors, but does not exceed 22% in senior management, this ratio has been stagnant for five years. Also, only four women are senior executives.
There is talk of a glass ceiling, but there are also concrete walls, floors and cliffs, sometimes invisible to the naked eye, that make it difficult for women to climb the mighty stairs of Ibex 35 companies. While it is true that 17 companies in the select group have more than 40% women on their boards, the list narrows to just six companies with the same proportion in senior management (Aena, Red Electric, Enagás, bankerColonial And rovi). While the number of female members in the board of directors of Ibex 35 increased by 12.3% in one year, it rose to 35.8%. senior management grew only 5.4% to 22%According to the latest report of the Spanish Association of Managers and Consultants (Eje&Con).
At the same time, companies run by women are still rare: three presidents and a CEO, but they did not reach the office by the same route. During Main Botin And martha ortega took over the presidency Santander And inditexrespectively, Beatrice Corridor e came power grid by political means. Only Maria Dolores Dancausa Reached the CEO position. banker on its own merits. More and more companies are flying the flag of equality, even if they don’t always follow its principles.
It has increased, but not at the expected rate,” he said. This is the answer to all sources consulted regarding the female presence in management positions of Ibex 35 companies, and there are nuances in this growth. Let’s start with the board of directors. There are 17 stock index companies that meet the recommendationIt is not a necessity to have 40% women on the board of directors by 2022. same power is in your hands.
“There are twice as many independent female executives as registered executives, but most notably, the number of female executive directors is low,” says Mercedes Wullish, founder of the rating. top 100. Special, independent female managers represent 48.95%While registered companies barely touched 23%, according to figures compiled by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). There are companies like Sacyr that use this category to show their progress: “50% of the independent directors appointed by Sacyr are women,” the company explains, even though in reality these women only make up 23% of the board. “I think we need to look for a sustained increase over time to ensure equity in advice across all its forms,” says Hildur Eir Jónsdóttir, managing partner of Assurance at EY Spain.
legal loophole
The commitment of the European Commission adds to the voluntary quota established by the CNMV. At the end of 2022, the agency approved a directive that stipulates that large companies should have at least 40% women on their boards of directors by 2026. However, this rate does not concern the top management. Due to this legal loophole, women represent 33.3% on boards and Only one-fifth (20.2%) of senior executives in Europe, as outlined in the European Commission’s gender equality report. “More progress has been made in administrative councils, but not in senior management” from the CNMV highlights, as women’s participation in management teams has slowed in the last five years. The legislation does not affect SMEs, where the absence of women is even more pronounced. According to the latest report of the Hiscox insurance company, 60% did not include any women in senior positions.
Companies and also those of Ibex 35, They never miss an opportunity to highlight the milestones achieved. on boards of directors. This is the case of Red Eléctrica, which is the only company with a 50% female boardroom and a female chairman at the helm, but with 35.3% on the management team. Their commitment is to have 38% by 2025 and 50% by 2030. “We are making progress, but we are still a long way from the full inclusion of women in power and economic sectors of all sizes,” says Resurrección Barrio, director of human resources. Resources from Red Eléctrica. Mapfre has 42.85% of female executives, but only 31.7% of management positions are held by them. “We are working internally to eliminate the pay gap and ensure that women have the same opportunities as men in accessing responsible positions,” they say of the company.
Sometimes companies they try to mislead with words. The Santander president expressed his pride about women in management positions two weeks ago: “We’ve gone from 20 percent to 29 percent and we’re going to reach 30 percent. A 50 percent increase.” However, top management still remains at 20%. Rovi, on the other hand, ensures that the board consists of three women and four men (42% female presence) and 31% of management positions are currently held by women. On the other hand, women’s representation is 25% (4 out of 10), although the management committee “also reflects Rovi’s commitment to promoting its policy of gender equality and opportunities”, according to the pharmaceutical company. .
This The number of women on executive boards is further reduced. Companies such as Colonial, which have 36.6% women in their boards of directors and 40% in senior management, did not have female members in their six-person boards of directors. The same goes for Naturgy. The company, which has 25% female executives and no senior management or executive board, states that its goal is to have “40% of management and board positions occupied by women by 2025.” To achieve this, it is negotiating “a new equality plan with workers’ representatives”. In contrast, the top executives of Solaria and Acerinox are not in their ranks. Both companies did not respond to questions about ‘assets’. .
aena It is the only company with 56% women on the senior management committeeHE 44% on the expanded management committee and 40% on the board. The company believes it can further increase women’s presence thanks to its equality plan in place by 2025. Aena heads the female senior management and power gridhowever, it should be noted that they are publicly traded companies. enagas It is the first private company to have more women on the board of directors (44.4%) than on the board (40%). “Our challenge is to uphold this commitment across all internal policies and procedures,” they point out from the company itself.
of companies”where the first manager is, there is more progress”, according to CNMV. For example, 45% of Bankinter’s board of directors and 42.86% of its management team are women. However, only its CEO is on the executive board of five people who make it up. something similar happens in inditex. his arrival martha ortega While the Presidency allowed two out of eight people to join the executive board, the presence of women was limited to 26.09% in senior management and 36.40% in the board of directors.
cultural quotas
Spain slightly exceeds the European average and ranks 10th in terms of the proportion of women on the boards of large companies. yes it stays Still far from 45.3% in France and 38.8% in ItalyCountries leading the list of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) partly due to mandatory 40% quotas in their regions. The other two regions Belgium And HollandRequire a minimum number of women in the governing bodies of listed companies. The percentage of female CEOs in Spain is one of the lowest at 1.2% compared to 6.7% in Europe. In this case, neither France nor Italy can exceed the EU average (6.5% and 6%, respectively). “The higher we get on the power scale, the fewer women we find in any field,” says Fedepe president Ana Bujaldón. Although Spain was one of the first European countries to enact women’s quotas on their boards (2007), Ministry of Equality did not refer to the presence of women in management teams. Despite the insistence of this channel many times, it was not possible to get an evaluation from the ministry of Irene Montero.
cosmetic changes
Related news
Concerning the imbalance that exists between senior management and the board, Bujaldón admits that she is concerned that “companies are embodying aesthetic, superficial changes under the pressure of the unstoppable social feminism trend, but that these mergers of women do not respond to believing in feminism.” great benefit of adding female flair. Professor Maite Moreno explains that this means they “give women responsibilities that often don’t carry enough weight.” EAE Business Schoollike Give them the chair of the Sustainability, Human Resources or Communications committee. “There’s a lot of talk about diversity, but when it comes to distributing roles, that’s decided by a time-wasting clock,” he says. bull. There are many reasons why the glass ceiling has not been fully broken yet, but the most important of these is the cultural context. The persistence of historical stereotypes and the vision of women in the care industry still hinder the progress of this industry. “Given their resistance, the roof of women’s leadership seems to be reinforced concrete,” said the Fedepe head.
One way to accelerate your participation in the world of management is through quotas. Moreno argues that consciences “sometimes change because of the law,” and they understand women’s quotas as “temporary corrective tools for gender imbalances,” according to Fedepe. HE The World Economic Forum estimates that the time needed to close the gender gap is more than 130 years. if we continue at the current pace. In the case of Spain, the country will need 33 years to achieve gender equality, according to the latest ClosinGap index by PwC. What is missing then? Díez emphasizes that “top executives are convinced that true equality is essential for the successful development of the company in today’s society.” Education is key: “Our generation will not see change, but young people are becoming more and more aware,” says Moreno.