The President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde (d), receives the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, at the headquarters of the ECB, on May 24, 2023 in Frankfurt (AFP/Archives/Daniel ROLAND)
“I dream of being able to hire more young women economists”: powerful boss of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde wants to break the glass ceiling which still too often slows down the sex unjustly said to be weak, yet a source of “enrichment” of the economy.
First woman to chair the institution, she relegated to the background the question of inflation which monopolizes European governments to talk about success for women, the time of a debate at the Economic Meetings of Aix-en-Provence.
“If women had access to employment under the same conditions as men”, the European Union would have “about ten million more employees, an increase in GDP of around 10% by 2050. This means an enrichment of our economies,” she says.
In front of a large audience where fans are waving to reduce the ambient heat, she shares the stage with three other women occupying prominent positions.
But “we are a bit like the trees that hide the forest”, notes Laurence Boone, the French Secretary of State in charge of Europe. “As long as we associate the word weak with the word woman, society will judge that women are not fit to be in power, because to be in power is to be a strong man”, analyzes the ex-chief OECD economist.
– “Discrimination” –
Although representing around half of those at work and more educated than men, women held 37% of managerial positions in the EU in 2019, and a much lower proportion (18%) in senior management, according to figures from Eurostat.
The Secretary of State for Europe, Laurence Boone, leaving the Elysée Palace in Paris on May 10, 2023 (AFP/Archives/Ludovic MARIN)
The boards of listed companies had 28% of women among their directors, according to the same source. Directing them still remains an essentially male prerogative.
Progress has certainly been made in recent decades, but much remains to be done.
According to Emmanuelle Auriol, researcher at the Toulouse School of Economics and professor of economics, only twelve countries in the world – all in the EU (including France) – offered in 2022 “perfect equality in law” between men and women; against “zero” in 1945.
“Does this equality of rights (…) translate into equality of career, of opportunity? No, there is a form of discrimination, which is cultural, which lasts over time and which is very, very hard to shake,” she recalls.
The French Parliament has voted over the years texts intended to promote parity in terms of electoral mandates. Measures have also been decided in the country and at European level to provide for quotas of women on boards of directors.
– “Courage to shine” –
The Secretary General of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), Louise Mushikiwabo, at a press conference in Djerba, Tunisia, November 20, 2022 (AFP/Archives/FETHI BELAID)
Secretary General of the International Organization of La Francophonie, Louise Mushikiwabo agrees: we must “change stereotypes by positioning them in positions traditionally reserved for men”. As in her country, Rwanda, where she was Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“When little boys see a female police chief or mayor of a big city, they grow up with that experience (…), there is another look at what a woman is capable of doing,” says -She. She also pleads for better access for girls to courses labeled as masculine, such as science and mathematics.
Within the ECB, Christine Lagarde wants to set an example to encourage women “to have confidence in themselves and the courage to shine”. Under his presidency, the institution has decided to accelerate its feminization, in particular for positions of responsibility where women will have to represent at least 40% by 2026.
“I have been working in these very masculine environments for more than 40 years,” she explains. “I have yet to see a single young woman… who has come to me asking for a raise or a bigger bonus because she thought she was better. Men I have seen tons !”.
“We have to accept (…) that a woman can contribute in exactly the same conditions – and sometimes even a little better”: “Although a woman, I assure you that I spend most of my time fight inflation,” she said.
© 2023 AFP
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