The number of female executives who perceive gender barriers at their company rose between the second and third edition of ESADE Gender Monitor, which was presented today at ESADE Madrid. The study on gender equality in business surveyed more than 500 female executives on their companies’ gender-equality policies. The results show increases in the percentages of women reporting difficulties related to achieving work-life balance (from 27.23% to 46.26% of the respondents), wage inequality (from 33.51% to 40.82%) and recognition of their work (from 26.18% to 34.01%). Additionally, 45.98% of the respondents said that the greatest of these obstacles, i.e., difficulty achieving work-life balance, along with the failure to identify with the values of senior management, was the main barrier to being promoted to positions of greater responsibility.

With regard to the reasons for adopting gender-equality policies, 18.18% of the surveyed executives said that their company implements them to increase workforce productivity, whilst 16.36% said that their company does so to increase its competitive advantage. The percentage of respondents who believe that their company views the issue as ‘a fad’ or ‘a women’s issue’ has declined from 64.84% to 36.42% in three years.The percentage of respondents saying that senior management is directly involved in gender-equality policies declined from 41.05% to 34.25% over the last year. Furthermore, even though 54.44% of the respondents believe that gender equality is part of their company’s strategy, 63.41% say it is not a priority for the company. A deeper look at the reasons for this view shows that 26.83% of the respondents think that their company has not embraced equality measures because management lacks proof of the results, whilst 25.61% believe that their company has not done so due to the perception that implementing such policies is complex.

Flexible hours were once again the measure most often used by Spanish companies to promote gender equality in senior management, according to the respondents for this wave of the ESADE Gender Monitor survey (48.55% said their company offered them), followed by executive training (43.35%). In contrast, 8.09% of respondents said their company has quotas for management positions. Paternity leave is mandatory at 3.53% of the companies, whilst 34.71% of the respondents said that their companies encourage their male colleagues, at any level of management, to take it.

Networking and associations

A total of 75.35% of the respondents said that informal support networks are important for their career development, although 62.86% acknowledged that they cannot dedicate as much time to them as they would like. The relationships they most sought to cultivate included those with people from outside their company but well-connected with the business world (58.33%), those with female executives in similar situations to their own (57.69%), those with colleagues (56.41%), and, to a lesser extent, those with bosses or influential people at their company (42.95%). A total of 6.86% of the respondents do not encourage such contacts, as they consider them phoney and uncomfortable.

This year, as a new feature, the ESADE Gender Monitor asked the executives which actors they thought contributed the most to gender equality in society. In their view, professional women’s associations (to which 58.62% of the respondents belonged) do the most, with a score of 7.05 out of 10, although they would like to see them offer a strategic vision of their objectives. Such associations were deemed more effective than international organisations (6.09 out of 10), civic movements (5.88 out of 10), the national government (5.71 out of 10), and the third sector (5.52). The executives gave a failing mark (4.09 out of 10) to the efforts of trade unions in this area, whilst the private sector received a score of 5 out of 10.

With regard to the most recent events related to gender equality, 58.29% of the executives believe that the 8M movement has had a positive impact, although 44.79% of the respondents say that it is insufficient. A total of 30.67% think that it has had no effect, whilst 10.43% believe it has been counterproductive for the message they want to promote. As for its impact on their companies, the executives gave it a score of 3.7 out of 10.