Alemanno (Consob): «The female quotas have served. And to break the glass ceiling, new legislative interventions are needed”

ROME – “Without quotas this glass ceiling would never have been broken.” Gabriella Alemanno, Consob commissioner from 8 June 2023, has no doubts: to advance women in companies and, more generally, in the world of work, “we should evaluate the hypothesis of a new legislative intervention. Without it, here in Italy we aren’t going anywhere.” We will discuss this with a large group of women managers in conference on Monday 4 March Consob dedicates sustainable impact investments to female leadership and ESG, entitled “Glass ceilings and rubber walls”.

Where are we at with the implementation of the Gulf-Moscow law?

«According to the latest Consob report, which refers to 2022, the presence of women on company boards of directors has reached 43%, exceeding the legal threshold of 40%. In 2011, when the law came into force, they were 7%.”

An excellent result, but is it enough?

«First of all it refers only to listed companies. And then these are mainly roles of independent director, or president, there are few cases of executive or delegated directors”.

So is it still the formal aspect of the law that prevails?

«We need to aim for a cultural revolution, it takes time: if a woman is appointed only to satisfy a regulatory obligation, it is not an effective operation. Instead, you should choose the person with the appropriate skills. And it is also necessary to understand that the presence of women improves the governance of the company, as many studies show: companies led by women have better results both in terms of lower debt and greater attention to sustainability issues, which are becoming increasingly important , and can make our companies more attractive in the eyes of foreign investors. This is also among the topics of our conference on Monday.”

And then there is also the whole world of unlisted companies, of small and medium-sized family businesses, not always willing to trust female leadership.

«The patriarchal tendency to privilege males remains. But things are changing. More and more often we are looking for the person with the right skills as a successor, no matter if man or woman. Unlisted companies should also learn to participate more in the capital market.”

Could the path be that of the constraints placed by the Pnrr in terms of quotas reserved for women and young people?

«That is just one incentive, and in fact it has had a limited impact. Here in Italy if binding rules are not established, we will go nowhere. The legislator should reflect on how to improve these aspects. Provisions such as that of the Pnrr can however help to change the approach on these issues”.

And here at Consob, how do you address the gender gap?

«We have 333 women out of 667 employees, and 11 out of 19 top managers».

How much longer will we have to celebrate March 8th?

«For our whole lives, also because it is a way of celebrating ourselves. The day that I hope will soon be cancelled, because that topic should finally be eliminated, is November 25th, the day against violence against women.”