Maternity leave slows down the professional development of female executives, according to a survey

Europe 1 with AFP 9:40 a.m., February 8, 2024

Three-quarters of female executives who have had children consider that maternity leave slows down the hierarchical progression of women "for several years", according to a survey published Thursday by the Association for the Employment of Executives (Apec). Nearly one in two female executives considers that their return to work was difficult (and even "very difficult" for 14% of female executives), according to this survey carried out by the CSA institute among 840 female executives who had at least one child in the last ten years.

A delicate return, between overload and “placarding”

“Maternity remains generally perceived as a setback in the relationship between a female executive and her employer,” notes Apec. In certain companies, maternity leave is "reduced to a penalizing absence, a problem to be resolved, instead of being considered as a logical and predictable step in women's professional career", continues the organization. Also, “during their maternity leave, some female executives continue to be connected with their company to different degrees (monitoring emails or clients, attending certain online meetings), contrary to the legal obligation”.

More than seven in ten women returning from maternity leave “talk about the difficulty of coping with their workload despite being tired”. Many have not been replaced systematically or often during their absence, with the risk of an “early return or an overload of work upon return with the danger of exhaustion when returning to the post”. Conversely, "if the replacement took place in good conditions, the risk is rather that of not returning to one's initial position."

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Some women experience "a progressive 'invisibility', a 'placardisation'", continues Apec, which notes that "all of these risks are accentuated in the event of long parental leave". According to another Apec survey carried out in December among 2,000 executives, 44% of men consider that inequalities between the two sexes within companies have been reduced over the past five years. Only 15% of women are of this opinion.

When we question women and men, half of the respondents believe that the professional development of female executives is hampered by the fact of having young children. If the parent is a man, only one in four respondents believe that their career will be hampered. Finally, while Emmanuel Macron announced in January the creation of shorter but better paid birth leave than current parental leave, 69% of respondents would prefer "short and well paid" parental leave to "long but poorly paid" leave. ".