At this point, no one doubts the advantages of working towards gender equality in positions of power. A 2016 study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics revealed that there is a positive correlation between the presence of women in corporate leadership and profitability, to a considerable degree.
Along a similar line, the UN Women facts and figures that confirm year after year that gender inequality still exists in the private sector also show that if women earned as much as men, the GDP in the Eurozone would post notable growth. Click & Tweet! The same can be said of our neighbours in America and Asia.
The goal, therefore, seems just as clear as its advantages. Nevertheless, the road is long and progress, slow. A few months ago that meritocracy could be an important way to speed up this change. Click & Tweet! The women who have been able to break the famous glass ceiling stand out for their training and education, pairing the self-imposed standards of excellence women are known for with the confidence that comes with good training.
In Spain, the ‘Equality Act’ has moved us in the right direction, covering basic issues like work/life balance. And Europe has tried to regulate parity in decision-making positions in companies. The example to follow, I believe, is Norway: some years back this country put in place laws requiring that all boards of directors in the private sector be at least 40% women. After the initial backlash from companies that saw this as clear interventionism, today the regulation is applied, the quotas met and exceeded.
Over the past years, 9 in 10 cases of parental leave to care for children were taken by women. Changing this will require a change in mentality, attitudes and traditional ways of doing things in western society.
In this regard, it is very important to recognise and celebrate the women who make it to the top as a way to make it easier for more women to follow in their footsteps. The price of joining the highest ranks of companies and organisations cannot be that we as women have to become superhuman: just equality of merits and opportunities, or levelling the playing field.
Educational equality, therefore, must ensure equality in the job market. This, however, is still not the case in even the most developed countries or Fortune 500 companies, only 6.4% of which are led by women. Having a woman in the position of CEO has a huge positive impact. Click & Tweet!
So, the number of women must increase, and not at the current glacial pace as the road ahead is long. Some studies venture that 30% of positions of responsibility and leadership will be held by women by 2027, ten years from now.
I think that a concerted, cohesive effort can speed this up and bring us closer to our goal. The Asociación Española de Ejecutivas y Consejeras and the Barcelona City Council Women’s Observatory have been working very hard to raise awareness in this area for quite a while now. The truth is, there is a group of well-trained, highly educated women who are experts in their fields and ready to climb the steps to the top: they just need to be able to aspire to these positions in the same conditions as any man does.
Sources: Facts and Figures: Economic Empowerment (UN Women),
