Finance, a men's sector?

By Lucía Lamas Silva, curso 2021-2022

What comes to your mind when you think of a CFO? You may never have asked yourself this question, but you may be thinking of a man in his 50s and dressed in a suit. Or maybe you are thinking of a young man, who works as CFO in a high-tech company.

The question is, why don't we imagine a woman in the position? This is because despite current gender advances and the progressive elimination of the glass ceiling towards women, only 5% of companies have a woman as their CEO and 16% of them have a woman as their CFO (Banco Santander, 2021). Spain is ranked 19th among countries with the highest rate of women on director boards; it might seem a not too bad position among the whole world, however, this means that only 23,8 % of the top managers of a company are women. Countries like France, Norway or Belgium are at the top of the list, with a percentage of women of 44,4%, 40,9% and 35,9% respectively in 2019 (Sempere, 2019).

	2015	2019	Percentage change
1.       1. FRANCE	34,2%	44,4%	10,2%
2.       2. NORWAY	39,7%	40,9%	1,2%
3.       3. BELGIUM	26,6%	35,9%	9,3%
19.  SPAIN	16,5%	23,8%	7,3%
GLOBAL	15,3%	20,6%	5,3%

                    Source: Own elaboration from Trincado data

Fortunately, things are changing and there is an upward trend, in which each time the weight of women in the management of companies is increasing. Women like Pilar Dols (Meliá), Teresa Quirós (Red Eléctrica) or Nuria Pascual (Grifols), are fighting for higher recognition as CFO (Blanco, 2021). These are three of the CFOs in Spanish companies listed on the IBEX35, among which there are only 9 female directors (Blanco, 2021). Many of these renowned CFOs have something in common, that they work in technology sectors and in pioneering companies, something that can impact us even more because of the culture of thought that has dragged on.

A study of enormous relevance on the subject revealed that those companies with a female CFO, obtained on average a superior performance in the price of shares, showing that diversity, in this case of gender, brings new perspectives to the company, making it grow and develop more easily (Informe S&P Global, 2019).

What are the causes of this gender inequality?

Firstly, women have traditionally been seen as the caregivers of the family, so that problems with work-life balance could be the cause of this inequality. Secondly, there is the gender discrimination that continues to exist in society, and therefore, women are perceived to be less well suited for such managerial positions. Thirdly, it is important to consider the lack of motivation of many women for positions such as CFO. Finally, there are bosses who simply do not promote women to management positions (Samela, 2018).

What steps could be taken to avoid gender discrimination in positions such as CFO?

Many companies are carrying out plans to reduce gender inequality. Among these plans we can find flexible work practices, transparency of opportunities and remuneration, support to encourage gender diversity, balanced teams and even mentoring programs focused on the development of women's careers (Samela, 2018).

In my opinion, we must continue fighting against any gender discrimination, especially women, because we can let the world know that we have the capacity to work as CFO or carry out the work that we want. However, men also play an essential role in this much-needed change in society. If we were taught from a young age that men and women are equal, job promotions would be based on merit.

It has been demonstrated that companies that supports diversity evolve more favourably than those that simply follow pre-established patterns of the past. That’s the reason why it is very important to support diversity of both gender and race or religion.

References:

Banco Santander. (2021). Santander. La diversidad de género en los puestos de liderazgo empresarial añade valor 

Blanco, I. (Marzo de 2021). El Economista. La dirección financiera está en manos de mujeres en nueve empresas del Ibex 35

Informe S&P Global. (Octubre de 2019). Inese. Las empresas con CEO y CFO femeninas son más rentables y logran un mejor desempeño en su balances. 

Meliá Hotels International. (2021). Meliá Hotels International. Información para accionistas e inversores. 

Samela, G. (29 de 07 de 2018). Clarín economía. El doble esfuerzo de las mujeres para llegar a directoras de Finanzas. 

Sempere, P. (Octubre de 2019). El País. Solo el 5% de las empresas tiene a una mujer como CEO.