Ambitious French women? A little, my nephew! And this is a report called Global Gender Diversity 2016 (Global Gender Diversity 2016 in VF), produced by the British recruitment firm Hays, which says so. The basic finding of this study? “Studies have shown the link between working women and the economic growth of a country. However, women are generally paid less than their male colleagues and remain underrepresented in the workplace, and proportionally in positions of responsibility. The researchers in charge of the study therefore brought together data collected between November 2015 and January 2016 in 25 countries, in order to see what creates the gap between men and women at work and above all, how to reduce it.
To the question “Do you aspire to occupy a position of high responsibility in your career? 64% of French women responded positively, versus 79% for men. It should be noted that the French women come in first place in terms of ambition, ahead of the Portuguese and the Belgians! In countries with strong economic growth, women seem less ambitious:German women are 22nd in the ranking, ahead of the United States and China.
The rest of the report is a little less encouraging, however:when asked about their ambitions within the company, only 8% of women are aiming for a position of company manager (32% for that of director and 40% for that of manager), when for men, this figure rises to 20%. What about salaries? 69% of French women believe they are paid as well as their male colleagues in the same position. An optimistic figure when we know that the World Economic Forum report estimates that equal pay will be achieved in 2186... After the Icelandic women who stopped working at 2:38 p.m. on October 24, 2016 (the time from which they are no longer paid, compared to men), the editors of the Les Glorieuses newsletter invite French women to do the same on November 7, 2016 at 4:34 p.m. and to share the initiative via the hashtag #7novembre16h34.
