The inequality between women and men also affects the top figures of the most important Italian companies. Sky TG24’s research for Valore D.
In Italy, among the top 100 companies listed on Piazza Affari, the managing directors called “Andrea” outnumber the female CEOs. It is the result of the second edition of the Sky TG24 elaboration, starting from data provided by Assonime, on gender equality in Italian top management. Last year, in fact, the most popular name among the CEOs of the most important Italian companies was Alessandro, while Carlo was on a par with the number of women. The elaboration was carried out for the Sky TG24 special dedicated to gender equality, “The inventor and the obstetrician”, produced in collaboration with Valore D.
Similar results came from searches on publicly traded companies in Australia (where managers named Peter beat women) and in the United States (there the name is John).
A widespread inequality
It comes as no surprise that women are under-represented in top positions, both in the labor market and in politics. But the fact that there are fewer women CEOs than the directors called Andrea has a certain effect. The inequality at the top of Italian companies is also certified by the numbers provided by Consob: only 1.8 percent of the CEOs of listed companies in Italy are women. Even going down the company hierarchy, female figures are scarce: for ManagerItalia female managers are 18 out of 100, less than one in every five. As well as among entrepreneurs, reaching 22 per cent according to Unioncamere.
But things can change
Yet in recent years, the gender gap between those who run the country’s largest companies has rebalanced, at least in part. Thanks to the “Gulf-Moscow” law, which since 2011 has required listed companies to reserve at least one third of the seats in the governing bodies for the less represented gender, things have improved in recent years. According to Consob data, in 2008 the boards of directors were composed of only 8 per cent of women, while in 2020 they almost reached 39 per cent.
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Source-tg24.sky.it