Women for the future

Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, Angela Braly, CEO of WellPoint Inc, Irene Rosenfeld, CEO of Kraft Foods, Anne Lauvergeon, Chair of the Board at Areva… The list of women at the head of large companies has significantly lengthened in recent years. In politics, women are also gaining ground. US President Barack Obama has not hesitated to appoint them to his government’s key positions. This is the current trend. And traditional male bastions, such as the energy, science or technical sectors, are changing their faces.
But beware, the time has not yet come to sound tidal wave alerts. Female successes remain exceptional. Executive boards and parliamentary benches remain largely necktied. Curbs are still in place, and the foremost is cultural. “Two years ago, I was promoted to be the manager of the company where I have been working for ten years,” tells Françoise. “All my colleagues and clients started calling me ‘Madam Manager’. I no longer recognised myself. The worst was with new clients who expected the ‘real’ manager to pop up at any moment. In other words, a man.”

A lack of female references
The workplace: a world of men? Stereotypes from the past have continued to stick. Numerous employers still believe that their female employees will not manage to adequately meet their professional responsibilities and their family duties. And when the first child arrives, things get more complicated. But gentlemen are not the only ones to blame. Women themselves hoist up barriers, often through a lack of confidence. “Our models for leaders and heads have long been males,” says Martine Abbou, an editor of specialised automobile magazines. ”As women, we lack references. And it follows that we have trouble seeing ourselves in their positions.” The outcome is the many have not dared to try. And if they do, they tend to struggle against guilt.
So it is that the guilt of working mothers is the subject of one of the works by the psychoanalyst Sylviane Giampino, in her Les mères qui travaillent sont-elles coupables ?  (Are Working Mothers To Blame?). The author here discusses the needs of children, the importance of separation, not to mention the role of the father. Her conclusion: work obviously does not fashion poor mothers.

A female-filled future
Thankfully, some solutions exist for getting around these stereotypes. Female networks are part of these, as well as various laws and company initiatives in favour of diversity. Altruism does not play a great role in all this. In times of crisis, decision-makers and leaders are looking for the best answers for putting the economy back on its feet. And for some time now, the idea has emerged that women may well be the true vectors of growth. Women have long been in charge of major household purchases. And now, their way of managing companies is increasingly appreciated. They even prove to be a profit-making factor. “In the United Kingdom, research on women and work carried out by a government-appointed commission show that the country could earn 23 billion pounds (27 billion euros), i.e. a 2 % increase on the GDP, by making better use of female skills,” put forward Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Alison Maitland in their Why Women Mean Business… There is every chance that the future may be female-filled.