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Michel Ferrary study reveals companies prioritising gender parity
According to the latest study by SKEMA Observatory on the Feminisation of Companies, women are still significantly under-represented in the governance of the largest French companies. In the 2023 study, titled "Diversity and Inclusion in CAC40", Michel Ferrary, a professor-researcher in charge of the SKEMA Observatory on the Feminisation of Companies, highlights that gender parity is still far from being achieved in CAC40 corporate leadership positions, just days before International Women's Day.
This is a reality: out of the 80 president and/or CEO positions in the CAC40 companies, there are still no women presidents or CEOs, but only two women chairpersons of the board of directors and one woman chief executive officer, which represents only 3.75% of those positions. On the other hand, the parity is closer for the board positions, with 254 women out of the 562 board positions of CAC40 companies, or 45.20% (+0.93% compared to 2021).
Rixain's Law is starting to work, but...
The study also highlights that the Rixain law, which calls for 30% of leadership positions to be held by women by 2027, is starting to have an impact. In 2022, 12 companies reached this percentage, an increase of 50% compared to 2021. However, Ferrary said that this increase was solely due to the addition of chairs around the management table and not due to the replacement of men by women.
Examples to follow
The study also identifies CAC40 companies that act as "bad pupils" of parity, with four companies having no women on their executive committees (ArcelorMittal, Bouygues, EssilorLuxottica and Stellantis). It also distinguishes four categories of companies (macho, Amazonian, female and male) and awards an Orange Prize to Air Liquide, which uses its pool of female executives to recruit women to its executive committee, and the Lemon Prize to EssilorLuxottica, for the absence of women in its executive committee.
Implications for Corporate Social Responsibility
The study questions the increasing sexual polarisation of large corporations and whether this might lead to ghettoisation. However, it concludes that the feminisation of executive committees and management has positive effects on operational profitability, environmental responsibility, and corporate social responsibility. "The environmental responsibility of the 10 companies with the most feminised comex (executive committee) is 41.68% higher than that of the 10 with the least feminised comex (13.19 compared to 9.31)," writes Michel Ferrary in his report.
Read Professor Michel Ferrary's 2023 study
Michel Ferrary's academic CV
