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Feminisation of companies: New study reveals how quotas strengthen the position of women
The advancement of women to governance positions is moving at a slow pace, which is why the role of quotas is all the more essential to promote gender balance, diversity, and inclusion. This is supported by the 2024 study from the SKEMA Observatory of the Feminisation of Companies, led by Michel Ferrary, a researcher affiliated with SKEMA Business School.
The exclusion of women from the corporate governance Olympus of the CAC40 persists. Indeed, women hold 6.25% of the 80 positions of chairman and/or chief executive officer in the CAC40 companies (3.75% in 2022 and 2.5% in 2021). Thus, there are: 0 female CEOs, 2 female chairwomen of the board of directors, and 3 female general directors.
The perceptible effects of the Rixain Law
In 2023, five companies, including two led by women, had at least 40% women on their executive committee (Vivendi, Orange, Schneider Electric, Credit Agricole, and Engie) and 11 others had between 30 and 40%: BNP Paribas, Dassault Systemes, Hermès, Kering, Legrand, L'Oreal, Michelin, Pernod Ricard, Plastic Omnium, Saint Gobain, and Societe Generale. In 2021, only 8 companies had at least 30% women on the Executive Committee.
Three business leaders with no women in their highest governance bodies
- Olivier Roussat, CEO of Bouygues,
- Francesco Milleri, CEO of EssilorLuxottica,
- Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis.
What about the glass ceiling?
On average, women represent only 25.75% of the CAC40's executive committees while they constitute 37.09% of the executive population, the traditional recruitment pool for leaders. The thickness of the glass ceiling is 11.34. In 2008, this glass ceiling was at 21.82 (6.3% of women in executive committees and 28.12% in the executive population), which means the ceiling has been nearly halved in 15 years.
The Lemon Prize awarded to LVMH, the Orange Prize to Renault
In his study, Michel Ferrary highlights the corporate inequality index where the glass ceiling between the executive population and the Executive Committee is thickest for women. He gave his "Lemon Prize" to LVMH with 12.50% women (2) on the Executive Committee and 65% female executives (Glass ceiling of 52.5). Conversely, the company with the lowest glass ceiling between the two hierarchical levels, the Orange Prize, went to Renault with 25% women on the Executive Committee (5) and 25.5% in the executive population. (Glass ceiling: 0.50).
A glass ceiling to the detriment of men
According to the report, in some companies, women are overrepresented on the Executive Committee compared to the executive population: Orange: 50% women on the Executive Committee and only 31.8% in the executive population (Glass ceiling to the detriment of men: 18.2).
The sexual bipolarisation
The polarisation of large companies intensified with companies becoming increasingly feminine and others increasingly masculine. It appears that the feminisation of companies has positive effects on operational profitability and CSR. While operational profitability is not correlated with the feminisation of the executive committee, it is correlated with the feminisation of management (coef. 0.4243) and even more so with the feminisation of the workforce (coef. 0.51.36).
- Environmental responsibility is not correlated with the feminisation of the executive committee, it is correlated with the feminisation of management (coef. 0.5714) and even more so with the feminisation of the workforce (coef. 0.6449).
- Social responsibility is moderately correlated with the feminisation of the executive committee (coef. 0.3682), correlated with the feminisation of management (coef. 0.4685) and even more so with the feminisation of the workforce (coef. 0.5022).
