Quotas or no quotas? This is the eternal question. Especially since 2011, when the Copé-Zimmermann law intervened in the life of medium and large companies by establishing the obligation of a balance of representation between women and men on boards of directors and supervisory boards, a balance where each of the two sexes must not be represented below 40%. A small revolution then, which aims above all to push for a feminization that is very difficult to obtain without the carrot – or rather the stick – of legislation.
Of the necessity of the legislative baton
An incentive that seems to have borne fruit even if all of them are far – even very far – from being exemplary, as demonstrated by the Observatory of the feminization of companies, created in 2007 by Michel Ferrary, and which publishes each year, a report focusing more particularly on CAC 40 companies. Where we therefore learn that in 2022, the bad students are called Essilor Luxottica, ArcelorMittal or Stellantis and the good students, Pernod Ricard, Kering or Saint-Gobain. But since 2021, another legislative incentive has been part of the entrepreneurial landscape and more specifically concerns the presence of women on executive committees. The Rixain law, which concerns companies with more than 1,000 employees, has for the past year required the publication of the gaps between women and men among senior executives and management bodies. But it is becoming more severe, requiring 30% by 2026 then 40% by 2029, of women in these Comex.
So much for the perfect setting. But in reality, it’s a little more complex. Because if the Copé-Zimmermann law pushed companies to really appoint women instead of men, with regard to the very young Rixain law, it is different. ” Companies have added chairs around the table “, says Michel Ferrary. Understand that rather than appointing women to replace male representatives, the Comex have expanded by welcoming women but without replacing existing positions. A sort of artificial little arrangement which, however, should not last very long.
A disappointment since the Rixain law was precisely introduced to go further in the feminization of companies, the hope of a trickling effect from the Boards of Directors to the executive committees not having occurred. ” Without the law, it does not move “, indicates Michel Ferrary, professor affiliated with Skema Business School, professor of management at the University of Geneva and former member of the High Council for Equality between Men and Women (from 2019 to 2021 Ed). ” The role of the legislator is to change habits ».
The glass ceiling, an often self-reinforcing reality
And change is not easy. Because, underlines Michel Ferrary, “ women’s businesses (perceived as such by the general public Ed.) are more and more so and so are male businesses “. Not that the companies themselves are reluctant to hire a woman or a man depending on the category in which they are placed, but it is the candidates themselves who censor themselves, a man not having willingly applied in a company feminine. ” Airbus or Thales are making efforts to recruit women but it is the women who do not want to join them “. Extremely revealing example: L’Oréal comes in 35th place in the listing of a male engineer, when the luxury brand appears at the very top of the listing of a female engineer. ” So many elements are embedded in our culture, our institutions, with gendered roles “, notes Michel Ferrary, indicating that the evolution of what is very culturally anchored can require generations to be profoundly modified.
Where the glass ceiling question remains whole, ” women having a strong tendency to want to go into details, not to dare to impose themselves or to speak up if they themselves do not consider themselves up to it ».
The proof in figures, women being 22.59% present in the Comex while they represent 35.46% of executives, precisely where the members of the executive committees come from. In terms of diversity – the ability to recruit women – and inclusion – the ability to promote women – “ we cannot hit too hard on so-called male companies, since these are the ones with few women in their management », pointe Michel Ferrary. « On the other hand, companies that have many women in management but few within their Executive Committee are macho companies. “. This is notably the case of Axa, Hermès, LVMH or Vivendi.
Feminize yes, but it’s the mix that counts
Often widespread, the idea of a company that would be more profitable because it knows how to feminize its governance bodies is validated by the report. Thus, the higher the percentage of women in the executive population and in the workforce, the higher the operational profitability. And Michel Ferray to deny the argument according to which a better profitability would be possible by the wage gap between women and men. A feminization of the Comex as well as the management which also has a positive impact for what concerns societal responsibility as well as environmental responsibility.
“What is essential is diversity”
Does this mean that we need to feminize a lot? Especially not, recommends Michel Ferrary. ” We have demonstrated that what is really essential is diversity “. Because on the contrary, a company that would be too feminized would not obtain good profitability. If from a feminization rate of 30% the curve goes up, it goes down once more beyond 50%.
Voluntarist on the feminization of governance bodies, France thus finds itself to be the best student in Europe. And, remarks Michel Ferray, “ the Rixain law places France as the first country in the world to legislate on this subject “. Like what, everything is really a question of balance.
