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Scrutinising corporate feminisation with insights from professors Stéphanie Chasserio and Michel Ferrary
The SKEMA Observatory on Corporate Feminisation is celebrating its 15th anniversary. This initiative, launched and directed by Michel Ferrary, a professor at the University of Geneva and affiliated researcher at SKEMA Business School, sheds crucial light on developments within the major CAC40 companies. In a Think Forward interview, Professor Ferrary and Stéphanie Chasserio, an associate professor and associate dean of the Globalisation Academy, share their insights.
It's a study that garners media attention each year. Fifteen years ago, Michel Ferrary, a management lecturer at the University of Geneva and affiliated researcher at SKEMA Business School, began meticulously examining the annual reports of CAC 40 companies. His threefold goal was to determine the presence of women in leadership, assess their progress in the hierarchy, and evaluate their impact on company results. "Today, thanks to the Copé-Zimmermann law, there are 40% women on the boards of CAC 40 companies," he explains in an interview published on the SKEMA Think Forward site.
'Corporate feminisation is not inevitable'
This legislative progress has played a significant role in improving gender diversity within executive teams. More interestingly, the Observatory has highlighted a sexual bipolarisation within organisations. Michel Ferrary observes that "female companies are becoming more feminine", a dynamic influenced by female students' preferences and company recruitment policies, especially in the luxury sector. Stéphanie Chasserio, an associate professor of management and researcher at SKEMA, who leads several research projects on women, including women leaders and entrepreneurs, argues that corporate feminisation is not inevitable and varies across cultures. Citing Indonesia and the Philippines as examples, she notes that "social representations related to professions are not the same as in France."
SKEMA's recognised expertise in the field
French companies choose to implement proactive policies to promote women to higher ranks. In this context, SKEMA's faculty, through Michel Ferrary and Stéphanie Chasserio, as well as SKEMA's Executive Education department, recently brought their expertise to the Renault Group to co-create a 'tailor-made programme' for female employees from middle management aiming for higher responsibility positions. Launched in 2021, this training (delivered to women of the Renault Group around the world, ed.), received the Cegos 'Digital Learning Excellence Award' in 2022
