Spain takes another step towards gender parity
On Tuesday, March 7, the day before International Women's Rights Day, the Spanish government approved a bill for equal participation of women and men at decision-making levels. Companies and institutions are now required to comply with gender quotas with one base rule, which states that at least 40 percent of board members must be women.
For greater participation of women in decision-making
Currently, Spain has less than 30% of women who sit on the boards of directors of companies listed on the stock exchange. It is even as low as 20% in executive positions. For the left-wing coalition government, there was no room for just mere proposals. Instead, it was the time to compel and drive destiny towards a more significant and genuine place for women. From 2026 onwards, private and public companies, as well as professional associations and members of award juries, must have at least 40 percent women on their boards.
The same law applies to the government, which will have to be equally made up of women and men, just as it should be for election candidates. At present, women make up 44 percent of the members of Congress and 39 percent of the members of the Senate. In fact, under these new provisions, no gender will be considered represented unless it accounts for 40 percent of the total.
Spain at the forefront of social justice
A week ago, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez justified the use of quotas as the only way, in his opinion, for the measures to really take effect. "If women represent half of society, they should hold half of the political and economic power [...]" And for those who find it exaggerated and overblown, Sánchez stated: “On the contrary, the new measure is fair and may work better because the incentives, advice and other recommendations have had only a limited effect.”
With this proposed law, Spain is now one of the most advanced countries in terms of equality between women and men. On February 16, the country surprised everyone by adopting a law that provides for menstrual leave for women who suffer from painful periods: a first in Europe.
What's happening elsewhere in the world in terms of women's rights?
In other countries, too, progress is being made towards greater gender equality. In some cases, it may seem a slow and stagnant process or, conversely, voluntary and audacious in others. Here is an overview.
EU
European Union countries took their time: 10 years, to be precise. Although drafted in 2012 by the European Commission, chaired at that time by José Manuel Barroso, the bill for establishing quotas in boards of directors was left aside until June 2022. Then, Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President since 2019, dug it out of the box. And the 27 member states and the European Parliament reached an agreement. By 2026, publicly traded companies in the member states will be required to have at least 40 percent of women on non-executive seats on their boards or at least 33 percent of non-executive and executive seats.
Morocco
In Morocco, a law passed on July 31, 2021, sets quotas to make gender diversity mandatory on the boards of directors of public companies seeking to raise capital. They will have to include at least 30% women by 2024 and 40% by 2027. This state-run project implements UN's Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This is a major achievement for Morocco, which becomes the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to strengthen women's rights. Hailed by the World Bank, Morocco's strategy matches that of Spain, Belgium, Norway, France, and Italy. However, the country is aware that there is room for progress. In 2020, women represented half the population but barely 23% of the workforce, although they are better educated than men and more Moroccan women have higher education than Moroccan men (26%, compared with 14% of men).
Canada
In theory, everything seems to be going well in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kept his promises when in 2021, he formed a government with 100% parity. However, the nice picture does not manage to hide the nervous smiles. How can we explain the fact that Canada, which ranked 27th in the world in terms of women's representation in parliament in 2000, has dropped to 59th place in 2023? Currently, Canada has only 30% of women in the House of Commons (the equivalent of parliament), far behind Mexico, Argentina, and France. In May 2022, the government published the 2019 figures for women's representation on boards. There again, it was only a can-do-better mention! Currently, only 19.2% of women sit on those so-called boards. This is +0.8 points better compared to 2018, and it seems that Canada is keeping pace. There's another consolation prize: the new directors were often new administrators, and newly created companies had more women executives.
USA
In the United States, only 10 women executives can be found among the 100 largest companies in the country. But California seemed to be doing well, at least at the start. In 2018, the state created a law establishing a requirement that all corporate boards include at least 40% women. This law was set to take effect definitively in 2021. The Tech sector, known for its macho attitude, was particularly targeted. The bill provided that boards of directors consisting of 6 members should have 3 women. For boards with 5 directors, at least 2 women were to be appointed at the same time. Violators were subject to a $100,000 fine. But on May 13, 2022, a Los Angeles court invalidated the quota law on the grounds of "equal protection for all", a principle enshrined in the Constitution. This was a setback for the advancement of women's rights and even more so when it was actually a woman judge who struck down the law. It is also a hard blow for California, which until then had been considered a spearheading state.
Kenya
In Kenya, the Constitution endorses the "two-thirds gender" rule. Since men have historically held the majority, it is understood that the remaining third represents women. At least 33 percent of parliamentarians must be women. But in practice, women make up only 20% of parliament. The issue is so touchy that in 2020, the Chief Justice of Kenya called for the dissolution of parliament in an open letter. For their part, although women politicians are subject to sometimes violent pressure, they continue to take their place in the circles of power and drive the application of laws on gender parity.
France
On January 27, 2011, France enacted the "Copé-Zimmerman" law (named after its designers), a law relating to the balanced representation of women and men on boards of directors and supervisory bodies and to professional gender parity at large. This law was designed to impose a quota of at least 40% of women on boards of directors and supervisory bodies. Ten years later, on January 21, 2021, the delegation for women's rights took stock. With 46% of women sitting on the boards of directors of large companies, France is a world champion. The Equileap 2023 barometer, which measures the degree of equality between women and men, places France as the champion of gender parity for the second year in a row. However, there is no reason to rejoice too quickly. The study also demonstrates numerous limitations by which barely 10 female CEOs are present in 119 large companies, including only 3 in the CAC 40. It also showed that parity is not respected in SMEs and even in the government. Ultimately, there are still few women who hold executive positions at the head of a company or in other senior positions. In May 2021, a new bill project intended to introduce quotas to increase the number of women at the head of companies has been set in motion. It aims to reach the following objectives: +30% by 2027 and +40% by 2030.
Japan
The land of the rising sun could do better. In 1985, Japan passed a law on equal opportunity in the workplace. In 2021, 36 years after the law was enacted, barely 10% of companies are run by women. Japan's progress has been slow, with the statistics showing an increase of only 3.5 percentage points since 1990. To address gender inequalities, some universities are taking the lead. The Tokyo Institute of Technology will launch a quota system in 2024 to admit more female engineering students (hardly 13% currently). The quota will allow 58 female students to enter engineering studies in 2024 and 143 in 2025, which will represent a 20% increase. Nagoya University is ahead of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, as it already has a quota system for engineering. Other universities are following the same strategy. But in a culture that is still primarily thought of by and for men, university officials are calling for a paradigm shift. Such radical change implies a Japanese society where women will feel comfortable and free to study and do business. The scandal of quotas discriminating against female medical students is still fresh in everyone's mind.
Norway
The country has earned the title of "the pioneer of parity". In 2002, Norway had more than 2,000 directors, of whom hardly 6% were women. A low percentage that has not changed for years. At that time, it was believed that the number of women directors would naturally increase as the number of women in companies increased. But the glass ceiling and the locked doors that block their access to positions of responsibility were not considered. In 2004, the Norwegian government required its public companies to have at least 40% women on their boards of directors. In 2008, the measure was extended to publicly traded companies. The penalty, which is deliberately severe, is the same for any offender. It simply implies the closure of the company. In 2022, the government thought of extending the rule to smaller companies. It is, in fact, targeting between 10,000 and 25,000 companies. It should be noted that quotas have allowed women to occupy 43% of the board seats of publicly traded companies. But they occupy only 9% of the managerial positions that are not (yet?) subject to the quota rule.
What are the implications for expatriate women?
The quota system may be an easier way for expat women to achieve high-level positions. However, some executives who would have preferred to be recruited on the basis of their qualifications have expressed their doubts about the quota system, which, in their opinion, was evidence of a failure. They nevertheless acknowledge that the quotas do not reduce the significance of qualifications; on the contrary, they rectify an anomaly that favors men over women. They also observed that quotas do not prevent all inequalities. Behind governments and boards of directors displaying a semblance of gender parity, power struggles still rage between men and women. And there is still a long way to go.
According to a World Bank report, in 2021, only 10 countries, namely Belgium, France, Denmark, Latvia, Luxembourg, Sweden, Iceland, Canada, Portugal and Ireland, granted the same rights to women and men. However, the report specifies that it focuses on laws on freedom of movement, access to employment, wages, marital conditions, mothers' return to work, ability to start a business, access to property and retirement. But between theoretical equality and practical reality, gender parity advocated by the legislation isn't always applied.
Where should you move as an expat woman?
Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark often top the rankings of "best countries" in terms of women's rights and parity. Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the Netherlands are also among the best destinations for expatriate women. Belgium ranks well, thanks to its low wage gap (about 5% to the disadvantage of women). But the gap remains, and the journey to full gender equality is an ongoing battle.
Reforming recruitment to fight discrimination
International women recruiters and business leaders all agree that recruitment processes must also be addressed. According to them, expatriate candidates can be discriminated against from the moment they apply, as job offers are still too often written by men. The same barrier exists in the recruitment process, where most interviewers are men. These managers believe that more women are needed at every step of the recruitment process, from the ad creation, through the screening of candidates, interviews, integration into a team, management, etc. Feminizing the teams allows the company to deal with all its talents more efficiently. In any case, diversity is conducive to greater competitiveness and growth.
