Gender equality in business: "We need a boost from the State"

A German government bill seeks to impose the presence of women on the boards of directors of large companies.

While the situation is better in France, it is far from perfect.

Rebecca Amsellem, entrepreneur and feminist activist, asks Monday on Europe 1 for state intervention.

INTERVIEW

Equality between men and women in companies is still far from being a reality.

Latest proof: a German government bill will impose the presence of women on the boards of directors of large companies.

If France is doing better, with 22.2% of women on the boards of the thirty largest groups in the country, against 12.8% across the Rhine, the situation is far from perfect.

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Rebecca Amsellem, entrepreneur and feminist activist, listed on Europe 1 the projects that remain to be carried out, from equal pay to the appointment of women to positions of responsibility.

To achieve this, she appeals to the authorities.

"Today we need a boost from the State to show a real state will to want to build a business world that is deeply feminist", asks the founder of the collective "Les Glorieuses", a feminist newsletter.

Paternity leave as long as maternity leave "would be a feminist advance"

First observation made by Rebecca Amsellem: "The business world is a system that was created by and for men."

"Women were not part of it at the beginning, and we realize that there is a constant adaptation of women to this world," laments the economist, who takes maternity leave as an example.

"Maternity leave was integrated into the company, but long after the arrival of women in the world of work. Today, there is no paternity leave that is as long as maternity leave, whereas this equality would be a feminist advance ", pleads the entrepreneur.

"Men could spend as much time with their newborns as women, and that would also put them on an equal footing within the company," she says.

The duration of paternity leave was extended last September by the government from 14 to 28 days (more than 5 weeks), while maternity leave can go up to 16 weeks during a first childbirth.

Wage inequalities, "internalized sexism"

Rebecca Amsellem also spoke out against wage inequalities, which currently persist in France.

"It is not normal that in 2020-2021, in France, we must always fight so that women are paid as much for equivalent work," she said, shattering preconceived ideas about the causes of this state of affairs.

"A lot of reasons are mentioned: we tend to say that it is because women would not dare to negotiate or that they would not dare to ask for a raise. But this is not true. Studies have shown that Women demanded as much or even more increase than men, but their superiors tended to refuse them more. This is called internalized sexism, "she said.

"The idea is not to appoint incompetent women"

Rebecca Amsellem also defended the principle of quotas for women imposed on companies.

"The idea is not to appoint incompetent women, but to force business leaders to seek out these women who have the expertise, who have the skills and who could have all the merit of accessing these positions of responsibility, "she says.

The economist also calls for "an increase in wages in jobs where women are the most numerous, such as care jobs."

"We tend to say that these are jobs that do not pay enough, whereas we now realize that these are jobs that are on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic. It is these people, essentially women, who now hold the country, ”she concludes.