More women decision makers

The Italian Senate discussed on February 22, 2011 the quota system draft law passed unanimously last December 2, 2010 by the Italian chamber of deputies. If the draft law were to be approved it would become obligatory for companies listed on the stock market and State owned companies to ensure that 1/3 of positions on their boards be filled by women.

The senate should have approved the law last week, but the passage of the law has been delayed due to the intervention of Confindustria (Italy’s National Association of Entrepreneurs), ABI (National Banks Association), ANIA and others. If passed by the senate without amendments the law will enter into force six months after its approval.

The law could contribute to promoting gender diversity and help reducing the gender gap, which is huge in Italy in all sectors.

In fact more women graduate than men, with better grades, yet only one in two has a paid job. Women are paid 16.8% less than their male colleagues. One woman in four leaves her job after maternity; of every 100 children only 10 find a place in day-care, fewer than five in 100 in a public nursery. Women represent only 21% of government ministers, and less than 20% of deputies in parliament. In public companies, only 6,8% of board members are women, while they account for only 3,8% of CEOs. Women professors have half the chance of their male colleagues of getting tenure at an Italian university, and according to Eurostat, in 2010 Italian women were half as likely as Italian men to become legislators, managers and entrepreneurs.

What the law is asking for is a fairer gender representation, not just in public institutions and in political life, but also in managing enterprises. There are very few women at the top of Italian enterprises, much lower than the European average. Italy is at the bottom of the European ranking, followed by Malta, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Portugal.

From a legislative point of view gender equality is guaranteed in Italy by the constitution and at the European level, by resolutions and by the 2010-2015 strategy for equality between women and men.

The Italian Coordination of the European Women’s Lobby calls on the Italian senate for awareness “in leading Italy to European standards in matters of gender equality”. In Europe the quota system is already law in many countries such as Norway, Spain and France.

Read the letter of the Italian Coordination attached to the article.