• 29/10/2022
  • By binternet
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Women-men's Equality at work: why is it still getting stuck?<

Do you know Mary Barra, Ana Patricia Botin or Nicke Widyawati? They lead economic empires: the first, the American giant General Motors; the second, the Spanish bank Santander; the third, Pertamina, an Indonesian oil company… and they are among the fifty most powerful women in the world, according to “Forbes”. Some would say that's it: since women have reached the top, equality has been achieved. Except that, spoiler, we are very far from the account.

According to the World Economic Forum, only 36% of senior management positions are held by women worldwide. This is a little more than in 2019. But at this rate, it will take 257 years for humanity to reach parity in this area. And the economic crisis linked to Covid-19 may not help matters. Globally, women are overrepresented in precarious jobs and sectors most affected by health measures. Without forgetting that the explosion of telework has increased the “unpaid work of women” (meaning “domestic tasks”), indicates the OECD.

And in France? Wage inequalities or the glass ceiling were the most visible aspects of professional inequalities during the last decade. If women have won their place on boards of directors, thanks to the quotas imposed by the Copé-Zimmermann law (“law relating to the balanced representation of women and men on boards of directors and supervisory boards and to the 'professional equality'), which has just celebrated its tenth anniversary, there is still a long way to go for parity to be established in decision-making circles. Only three women hold a management position out of the 120 largest French companies. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, testimonies of gender-based and sexual violence at work are growing. As feminism experienced a revival and began to infuse society, initiatives to try to break down sexist stereotypes, degender sectors and professions have multiplied. We take stock.

#BalanceTonEntreprise

October 2017. The French version of #MeToo started in the world of work. Sandra Muller, journalist, testifies on Twitter to the sexual harassment she says she suffered from her boss at Equidia, a television channel. She launches the illustrious #BalanceTonPorc. And the shock wave has not finished resonating: from the kitchens of the great restaurants to the offices of Ubisoft, the word is free. The workplace is still a hostile place for women: six out of ten European women say they have already been victims of some form of gender-based or sexual violence during their career (Ifop, 2019).

"It's not that women talk more, it's that we now hear them", thinks Caroline De Haas. It has been eight years since this feminist activist founded Egaé, a consulting and training agency in gender equality. “Before, in my presentations, I was asked not to bring up the subject of sexual harassment, saying to myself: 'There is none of that with us.' Today, the firm is overwhelmed with requests from unions, company management, schools and public institutions. And even more since the first confinement, a favorable time for online training, ”notes the director.

The Labor Code protects against acts and behavior based on sex (discrimination, insults) or with a sexual connotation (harassment). And even against ordinary sexism, with, since 2015, “sexist action”. Because, yes, ladies, a remark about your outfit or your body at the coffee machine can be punished with a disciplinary sanction. You did not know it ? This is the weakness of these measures: they are still poorly understood. So, “in three hours of training, I will not convince Jean-Michel to no longer be homophobic, sexist or racist. But I will explain to him that he has no right to treat people differently at work,” adds Caroline De Haas.

Since 2019, the law requires companies with more than 250 employees to appoint one or two “sexual harassment” referents. "What makes the difference is when the number one gets their hands dirty," she says. Often they think that the police should be called immediately and that if the person does not file a complaint, there is nothing they can do. In fact, the Labor Code says that the company is obliged to intervene if acts of harassment are reported. »

#ImageDeMarque

Many companies have understood the immense risk to notoriety incurred in the event of a scandal. Also, all means are good to display a pro-equality image: public support for feminist associations, highlighting of women leaders, mentoring for female students, sponsorship of digital training for women, publication of figures on parity... and running to prices. Barilla, for example, prides itself on achieving gender parity in 2021 and winning the Catalyst Award for its initiatives in support of women's leadership. Conversely, every year since 2007, in March, the Skema Observatory of the feminization of companies, carried out by Professor Michel Ferrary, is "scrutinized with feverishness by the companies concerned" (CAC 40+20), confides to us the principal of a high school. A lever or a ball and chain to recruit “young graduates, more and more attentive to these criteria when looking for a first job, girls as well as boys”. Who will win this year's "orange prize for professional promotion", won in 2020 by Sodexo? The bad students are also entitled to their prize... shame, such as the "lemon price of the glass ceiling" awarded last year to Hermès, which showed the largest gap between the percentage of women executives and the percentage of women to the executive committee ("inequality index").

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Gender equality at work: why still stuck?

The measurement and monitoring of indicators, as well as their publication, are essential to move the subject forward in business. And not just for an employer brand story. Numerous studies prove that inclusiveness and diversity improve performance. Let's quote one: according to the International Labor Office (2019), companies that have gender diversity policies are 31% more likely to see their business results increase than those that do not.

#MoneyIsPower

Fifty years since equal pay has been enshrined in French law. But, in 2020, French women worked for free from November 4, at 4:16 p.m., according to the feminist collective Les Glorieuses. Women are still paid 15.5% less than men, all positions combined, and this has stagnated for five years.