Parity on this stock index? The female presence reaches 35.8% on the boards, but does not exceed 22% in senior management, a percentage that has been stagnant for five years. In addition, only four women are chief executives
There is talk of a glass ceiling, but there are also concrete walls, floors and cliffs that make it difficult for women to climb the power ladder of Ibex 35 companies. Although sometimes they are not visible to the naked eye. Although it is true that 17 companies in the selective group have more than 40% female presence on their board of directors, the list narrows to six companies with the same percentage in senior management (Aena, Red Eléctrica, Enagás, bankinterColonial y Narrator). In one year, the number of women has increased by 12.3% on the boards of directors of the Ibex 35, up to 35.8%, while in senior management has only grown 5.4%, up to 22%according to the latest report from the Spanish Association of Executives and Counselors (Eje&Con).
At the same time, companies headed by women are still rare: there are three presidents and a CEO, but they have not reached office by the same path. While Ana Botin y martha ortega inherited his position to preside over the Santander e Inditexrespectively, Beatrice Corridor came to Electric Network through political means. Only Maria Dolores Dancausa has reached her position as CEO of bankinter on their own merits. More and more companies raise the flag of equality, although they do not always comply with its principles.
“It has increased, but not at the rate that was expected.” This is the response of all the sources consulted on the female presence in the management positions of the Ibex 35 companies. And within that growth there are nuances. Let’s start with the boards of directors. There are 17 stock index companies that meet the recommendationwhich is not an obligation, to have 40% women on its boards by 2022. The publication of the Code of Good Governance for Listed Companies in 2020 has accelerated the incorporation of women on the boards of the 35 companies, although not all have the same power in your hands.
“There are twice as many independent female directors as proprietary directors, but the most notable is the low number of executive female directors,” says Mercedes Wullish, founder of the ranking. Top 100. Specific, independent female directors represent 48.95%, while proprietary companies barely touch 23%, according to figures compiled by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). There are companies, such as Sacyr, that use this category to show their progress: “50% of the independent directors appointed by Sacyr are women,” the company explains, although in reality these women only make up 23% of its board. “I think we have to seek a sustained increase over time to achieve parity in advice in all its types,” says Hildur Eir Jónsdóttir, managing partner of Assurance at EY Spain.
legal vacuum
The commitment of the European Commission is added to the voluntary quota established by the CNMV. At the end of 2022, the institution approved a directive that imposes a minimum of 40% women on their boards of directors for large companies by 2026. However, this percentage does not concern senior management. Due to this legal vacuum, women represent 33.3% on boards and only one fifth of top executives in Europe (20.2%), as summarized in the European Commission report on gender equality. “There has been greater progress in the administrative councils, but not in senior management,” they emphasize from the CNMV, since in the last five years the incorporation of women into management teams has slowed down. The legislation also does not affect SMEs, where the absence of women is even more noticeable. According to the latest report from the Hiscox insurer, 60% did not incorporate any woman into senior positions.
The companies, and also those of the Ibex 35, They do not miss an opportunity to highlight the milestones achieved in the boards of directors. This is the case of Red Eléctrica, the only company to reach 50% women on the board of directors and with a female president at the helm, but with 35.3% of them on the management team. Their commitment is that it be 38% in 2025 and 50% in 2030. “We are making progress, but we are still far from the full incorporation of women in all scales of power and economic sectors,” says Resurrección Barrio, director of human resources of Red Eléctrica. Mapfre has 42.85% of women directors, but only 31.7% of management positions are held by them. “Internally we work so that women have the same opportunities as men in accessing positions of responsibility and to eliminate the wage gap,” she says from the company.
Sometimes the companies they try to mislead with words. The president of Santander showed her pride two weeks ago about women in management positions: “We have gone from 20% to 29% and we will reach 30%. It is an increase of 50%.” However, senior management still remains at 20%. For her part, Rovi ensures that her board is made up of three women and four men (42% female presence), and 31% of management positions are currently held by women. On the other hand, despite the fact that the management committee “also reflects the commitment that Rovi maintains to promote a policy of gender equality and opportunities”, according to the pharmaceutical company, the representation of women is 25% (4 out of 10). .
The female figure is further reduced in executive committees. Companies like Colonial, which have 36.6% women on their board of directors and 40% in senior management, have not incorporated any into their executive committee made up of six people. The same goes for Naturgy. With 25% women directors and none in senior management and on its executive committee, the company indicates that its goal is that “40% of management and board positions in 2025 are occupied by women.” To achieve this, it is negotiating “with the representatives of the workers a new equality planW. Solaria and Acerinox, in turn, do not have senior managers among their ranks either. Neither of the two companies has responded to the questions about ‘assets’.
Aena is the only company that has a 56% women on the executive management committeehe 44% on the extended management committee and 40% on the board of directors. The company believes that it can further increase the female presence thanks to its equality plan, in force until 2025, which will try to “increase the number of women in areas where they are underrepresented, mainly the group of maintenance and firefighting services fires”. The female senior management is headed by Aena and Electric Networkbut it should be remembered that they are public companies. enagas It is the first private company with more women on its management team (44.4%) than on its board of directors (40%). “Our challenge is to maintain that commitment transversally in all internal policies and procedures,” they point out from the company itself.
There is a belief that companies “where there is a first executive, progress is greater”, according to the CNMV. For example, Bankinter has 45% women on its board of directors and 42.86% on its management team. However, only its CEO is part of the executive committee of five people that make it up. Something similar happens in Inditex. The arrival of martha ortega The presidency has allowed two women out of eight people to reach the executive committee, while the female presence is limited to 26.09% in senior management and 36.40% on its board.
cultural quotas
Spain slightly exceeds the European average and ranks 10th in terms of the percentage of women on the boards of directors of large companies. Yes, it remains still far from 45.3% in France and 38.8% in Italy, countries that lead the list of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in part due to the mandatory quotas of 40% that exist in their territories. Two other territories, Belgium and the Netherlands, make it mandatory to have a minimum number of women in the governing bodies of listed companies. The percentage of female CEOs in Spain is one of the lowest, 1.2% compared to 6.7% in Europe. In this case, neither France nor Italy exceed the EU average (6.5% and 6%, respectively). “As you go up the scale of power, whatever the field, we find fewer women,” says Ana Bujaldón, president of Fedepe. Despite the fact that Spain was one of the first European countries to legislate quotas for women on boards of directors (2007), the Ministry of Equality has not made references to the female presence in management teams. Despite the repeated insistence of this medium, it has not been possible to obtain an assessment from the Irene Montero ministry on this issue.
cosmetic changes
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Regarding the imbalance that exists between senior management and the board of directors, Bujaldón admits that they are concerned “that companies incorporate aesthetic, superficial changes, pressured by the unstoppable social trend of feminism, but that these incorporations of women do not respond to believing in the great benefit of adding female talent. This means that “many times they give women responsibilities that do not carry enough weight,” explains Maite Moreno, a professor at the EAE Business Schoolas grant them the presidency of the Sustainability, Human Resources or Communication commission. “There is a lot of talk about diversity, but when it comes to distributing roles it is decided with a clock that is losing time,” he says Wullish. There are many reasons why the glass ceiling has not yet been fully broken, but the main one is the cultural context. The persistence of historical stereotypes and the vision of women in the care sector still hinder its promotion. “Given their resistance, the roof of women’s leadership seems to be made of reinforced concrete,” the Fedepe president ironized.
One way to speed up your incorporation into the world of management is quotas. Moreno defends that consciences “sometimes change due to laws” and from Fedepe they understand women’s quotas “as temporary corrective tools for gender imbalances.” He The World Economic Forum estimates the time it will take to close the gender gap at more than 130 years if we continue at the current pace. In the case of Spain, the country will need 33 years to achieve gender equality, according to the latest ClosinGap index prepared by PwC. What is missing then? “That senior executives are convinced that real equality is essential for the company to develop successfully in today’s society,” Díez stresses. Education is the key: “Our generation will not see the change, but young people are becoming more and more aware,” says Moreno.