Is the place of women progressing in management bodies? The Rixain law imposes a quota of 30% of female executives by 2026.
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A few days before March 8, we are wondering about the place of women in the management bodies of large companies. Details from Sarah Lemoine
franceinfo: After the Copé-Zimmermann law, which concerned the feminization of boards of directors, the Rixain law set new conditions?
Sarah Lemoine: The Rixain law was passed at the end of 2021, to accelerate economic and professional equality between women and men. And it goes a step further than the Copé-Zimmermann law of 2011, which had already had the effect of a bomb, at the time, by gradually imposing the feminization of boards of directors. The Rixain law targets the management bodies of companies. That is to say the executive committees.
It imposes an initial quota of 30% women in 2026, regardless of the job title: financial director, marketing director, communications director, etc. For example, an Executive Committee of seven people must include two women, at least within two years.
All companies with at least 1,000 employees are affected. With a significant financial penalty in the event of non-compliance. Note that this quota also applies to men. A company that only had women in its management would also be punished.
Two years after the Rixain law was passed, where are we?
The Ethics & Boards firm and the French Institute of Administrators scrutinized the 120 largest companies listed in Paris.
Among these companies, 44% are already in compliance with the law, two years in advance. This means that they already have 30% or more women on their executive committee. The progression is real, because in 2019, they were only 12.5% in this situation. And if it progresses quickly, “is that female talents are very present in these companies”says Floriane de Saint Pierre, president of the Ethics & Boards firm.
Does the ongoing feminization of executive committees allow women to rise even higher?
In the 120 largest listed companies, there are only eight female general managers and six female chief executive officers, or 14 in total. Which remains little for the moment. But the feminization of executive committees actually helps women access the most prestigious positions. This creates an internal breeding ground. Catherine McGregor from Engie, Estelle Brachlianoff from Veolia and Valérie Baudson from Amundi, have all been promoted to general directors, after having been a member of the Comex.
On the other hand, in these 120 companies, we do not find any woman at the head of a company that she herself founded. “The problem is access to financing for female entrepreneurs. Few of them manage to create large structures,” says Floriane de Saint Pierre.