Gender gap, still very far from gender equality in Italy, female CEOs are only 3% and in Europe only 7% - Lifestyle

The percentage of female CEOs (chief executive officer or CEO)

(last year they were 4%) which places our country at the bottom of the ranking together with Germany (3%) and Switzerland. (2%) and behind Spain (4%) and Portugal (6%), against

, 18% in the Czech Republic and 14% in Poland. This is what emerges from a European study presented by Ewob, the

association , of which the Italian Valore D is a member, which every year analyzes

Italy has the highest percentage of women in Board Committees / Supervisory Boards (47%) also following a favorable legislative framework, the study also reveals, but has dropped to third position in terms of the number of women at the head of the Boards (15%).

Outside the boards of directors

the percentage of women in executive levels, in fact, is only

Too often, when looking at top positions, men say that it is hard to find women with the right profile.

Well, if you are seriously looking for them, you will find them.

Time to break the glass ceiling.

I will push to ensure that our proposal on Women on Boards becomes EU law.

pic.twitter.com/O0azjELt87

- Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) January 20, 2022

Finally, as regards the so-called

y, this measures 0.62, slightly higher than the European average, but Italy grows slightly compared to 2020 and keeps the sixth position unchanged, positioning itself at the top of the ranking ahead of Denmark ( 0.61), Belgium and the Netherlands (both with 0.58).

The study analyzed 668 listed companies from 19 European countries in 2021. "Even if positioned at the top of the Gdi rankings,

explains Paola Mascaro, president of Valore D, an association of companies that today has over 2 million employees and over 500 billion euros in turnover and partner of the firm -. The figure of 3% of women at the top of companies is worrying and shows that

and that there is still a lot of work to be done to change the corporate culture. The Ewob study is clear: companies led by a CEO have twice as many women in top positions than the average of other companies. It is therefore necessary to accelerate, promote the development of inclusive leadership and create a pipeline of female talents ".

The percentage of women in the board of directors is still at 35% and only 7% of companies in Europe are led by female CEOs: this is what emerges, demonstrating again this year how far the breaking through of the glass ceiling is, from the Gender Diversity Index 2021 (Gdi), the European study presented this morning by Ewob, the European Women on Boards association of which the Italian Valore D is a member, which every year analyzes gender representation on the boards of directors and top management of the largest companies European.

    Presented for the third consecutive year, the GDI is the most complete report to analyze the representation of women at the various levels (in the Boards, at the top level and in the committees), offering a complete picture of female leadership. In 2021, the study analyzed 668 listed companies in 19 European countries, noting that, at the speed of current change, the target of 40% women on board of directors by 2025 will not be achieved.

    If in 2019 the GDI was 0.53, two years later it settles at 0.59, a far cry from 1.0 which represents 50% of women in top positions.

    In 2021, only 35% of board members were women, an increase of only one percentage point over the previous year. At the top level, the absence of women is even greater, with men occupying 81% of positions. And out of 668 companies analyzed, only 7% (or 50) are led by a female CEO, an insignificant improvement on the 42 female CEOs in 2020.

    "Since women make up the majority of college students, it's amazing to see that only the 7% of companies in Europe are led by a woman. This must change because we cannot afford not to employ such an important part of our talents ", observes Hedwige Nuyens, president of European Women on Boards.

    The GDI report also reveals that companies headed by a female CEO have twice as many women in top positions (38%) than the average of companies (19%), while in companies headed by a man, women are selected for only 30%. % of vacant positions.

Regarding the situation in the various countries, Norway, France and the United Kingdom are the closest to gender parity with a Gdi of around 0.7, followed by Finland and Sweden.

Among the countries that have at least 10 companies in the analysis, Greece ranks at the lowest level, followed by Poland and Switzerland.

The 3 countries at the top of the GDI rankings are: Norway: 0.72;

France: 0.71;

United Kingdom: 0.67.

The 3 countries at the bottom of the ranking are Switzerland: 0.43;

Poland: 0.41;

Greece: 0.24.

"Surprisingly, progress is slow even in some countries known to be generally 'gender equal' such as the Nordic countries. Even in these countries, economic power is concentrated in a small circle that often excludes women," comments Hedwige Nuyens.