On a global level, during the past two decades, there was no significant advance regarding women’s participation in companies’ High Level Management

The International Labour Organization has published a global study on gender equality. Results are quite discouraging. According to the international organization, it will take between 100 and 200 years to achieve gender equality. Such is the conclusion after a survey over 1200 companies in 108 countries.

“A vital point is for more women to reach superior director levels in order to become possible candidates for maximum positions, such as General Director or President of a company” stated the ILO in its’ report‘ Women in business and management, gaining momentum’ . The organization points out the existence of “invisible barriers” that stop women from getting to the top level of companies.

The situation in our region is dissimilar. Colombia, with a 53, 1% women participation rate in directive positions, is the Latin American country best placed in a world ranking that includes 108 countries. Only Panama and Guatemala share the Top 10 ranking with Colombia. Uruguay and Nicaragua appear among the Top 20.

Brazil is number 31 in the ranking with a women participation rate of 37,3% in High Management positions.

Bolivia, Venezuela Mexico and Argentina are among the nations with a participation rate that goes from 35% to 31%, values that put them in the positions between number 39 and 56.

Peru and Costa Rica show higher levels of gender inequality, as less than 30% of women access high level positions.

Chile, number 73, is the country in Latin America with the lowest level of participation. Only 23,6% of women have positions of high organizational complexity.

Among the barriers mentioned in the report, there are greater responsibilities for women at home, the predominance of a masculine business culture and the lack of stimulus for men to ask for licenses connected with family matters.

Women state they neither want a special treatment, nor capacities to advance in their professional careers. They need flexible solutions to organize the time they dedicate to work and to family obligations.

According to global data, at 30% of companies there is no woman in the board of directors. Only in the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom the percentage of women is over 20%. Countries such as Chile, India, Japanand Russia have less than 5% of women in their boards of directors.

In big corporations, at a global scale, only 5% or less are female Executive Directors. Considering this, ILO points out that “the bigger the company, the smaller are the chances of a women managing it”.

The relative exclusion of women of high level business positions occurs despite the fact that they are the owners and managers of 30% of micro and small companies.

In addition, the ILO considers that the so called “glass ceiling”, which excludes women from getting to high level positions, remains intact and that female talent is not being used properly.

If we want to build inclusive societies and seize every available talent, we must urgently look over the gender inequality issue and initiate specificaction plans.

To read the complete report http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—dcomm/—publ/documents/publication/wcms_316450.pdf