The French Institute LH2 conducted for a first time, a nation-wide survey, interviewing female executives from 43 different professional networks in France.
BNP Paribas enthusiastically took part in the survey, with the active participation of Mix City (a club of the female senior executives of the Group) and ADC (the association of executives directors of the Group).
Out of the total 23 000 women solicited by LH2, more than 5000 agreed to participate in the survey. In order to ensure homogeneity of the responses, only the answers of women, actively working in private enterprises, from the ages of 30 to 60 years old, were taken into consideration. Thus the total number of interviewees was 2 846 persons.
The goal of this survey was to establish the position of female executives on the issues of:
• confidence in the professional development and evolution of their career
• equality in the field of Human Resource management, concerning remuneration and promotion
• the impact of maternity leave on the development of their career
• awareness of a system in place, ensuring gender equality
• knowledge of potential benefits which could be acquired from such system
• the improvement of the current situation in terms of equality between men and women at the work place
What were the results of the survey ? In most cases, the responses were skeptical:
• 55% of the female executives are not confident in the positive development of their career and are not sure that they are given equal opportunities to evolve in the hierarchy.
• Going on maternity leave represents an obstacle in the professional development of female executives; 55% even think that their maternity leave has has a negative impact on their career evolution.
• 40% of the interviewed women acknowledge that there is an improvement in the mechanisms of gender equality in the company they work, but only 35% of them feel that they have benefited from those arrangements.
• 69% of the female executives believe they work in a context of a ‘glass ceiling’ ; where real power remains hardly accessible.
In conclusion, there is still a lot to be done in the professional environment of companies.
Improving the confidence of women about their careers would instigate more enthusiasm and personal motivation to excel in their jobs, which is a prerequisite for better performance.
IDE: to create income opportunities for poor rural households
Project Why: to create a model of education for for children in India
This is not a suprise at all. No matter how many stride woman make their is a man or woman trying to hold us back. Men its because if you look around the face have not changed nor the men they mentor. The ideal is never let a woman get ahead of you no matter what. Its called the good boys club. On the hand of a woman if she does mode to the male roll she will find herself on the outside. So she must enforce this goals on to other women to look good. Since she does not want to start all over gain climbing that ladder or show she knows her job.