Politics of Equality at Work

Gender-based quotas in France: quantity without ‘real’ (e)quality? - by Heather Connolly

In the first of our blog series for the Politics of Equality at Work project, Heather Connolly explores the potential significance of 2021 legislation in France to introduce quotas to accelerate gender equality.

While quotas are a useful way to achieve gender balance in numbers, workplace cultures and systemic inequalities outside the workplace mean that women are potentially taking on higher levels of responsibility in difficult working environments without any reduction in caring or domestic loads. A broader social approach with accompanying support is required for more gender-equal societies.

Our ESRC-funded project from 2021-2024 compares approaches to equality across four European countries, France, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK. In the area of gender equality, all four countries come in the top 10 of European countries on the EU Gender Equality Index. With 75.5 out of 100 points, France ranks 4th in the EU on the index behind Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.

France introduced new legislation in December 2021 where larger companies will have to gradually meet new gender quotas for senior management roles, and publish an annual analysis of representation by gender in these roles. The measures feature in a law intended to accelerate economic and professional equality.

The new legislation requires companies with more than 1,000 employees to meet 30% and then 40% quotas for more equal gender representation among senior executives and management committee members. From 1 March 2026, companies will have two years to ensure that women hold 30% or more of these positions and to negotiate corrective measures, or implement measures in the absence of an agreement. From 1 March 2029, companies will have two years to comply with the 40% quota, and sanctions for noncompliance (up to 1% of the company’s payroll) will take effect from 1 March 2031. From March 2022, companies must publish annually on their websites an analysis of gender representation for senior executive roles and management committee membership.

This new legislation acts in combination with legislation introduced in 2021, which requires employers with more than 250 employees to calculate their gender pay score using five indicators (including the average pay gap, differences in salary increases and promotions). Employers scoring fewer than 75 out of 100 points have to publish the corrective measures taken, and report on their progress. Under the new decree, employers will have to publish their overall gender pay equality index score as well as their scores for each gender pay indicator.

Implementing Quotas

France was the first country to introduce a legislative quota of 50% for Parliament in the year 2000. Women ministers increased from 34% to 46% from 2010-2017, and women members of parliament from 20% to 38%. Since 2000, ten other Member States have introduced legislative gender quotas for parliamentary elections. According to the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), these countries have increased the share of women in their parliaments almost three times faster than countries without quotas. The proportion of women in parliaments increased more quickly in Ireland, Spain, Luxembourg, Poland and Slovenia after they adopted quotas.

In companies, France has had gender quotas in place since 2011, with legislation that phased in a 40% quota to improve the gender balance of management boards in companies listed on the stock exchange (CAC 40), or those with more than 500 employees and turnover exceeding €50 million over the previous three years.

Improvements in the EU have been biggest in the private sector, largely due to the improved gender balance on company boards. In October 2020, the share of women on EU company boards in the largest listed companies reached 29.5 %. Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and the UK have almost a third of women on their company boards.

Yet, France is the only country to have over 40 %. The share of women on the boards of the largest publicly listed companies increased from 12% in 2010 to 45% in 2020 and the share of women on the board of the central bank increased from 30% in 2010 to 45% in 2019. France has been a forerunner in the European Union in using quotas to forward gender equality.

To what extent are these types of measures effective for achieving “real” equality in relation to the quality of working lives for women?

Challenges

On the Gender Equality Index, with 81.4 points, France’s score has improved the most in the domain of power (+ 29.0 points) since 2010. Its ranking has improved from sixth to second place. These changes are arguably a result of an increase in gender equality in economic decision-making through quotas (+ 44.2 points).

Yet, if we dissect the Gender Equality Index further, France’s lowest rankings are in the domains of work and health (14th among all EU Member States in both domains). In the domain of work, both for participation (13th in the EU) and for segregation and quality of work (10th in the EU), suggesting that focusing on quantity-based measures for improving gender equality at work does not necessarily overcome systemic barriers.

Moreover, another indicator on the Gender Equality Index looks at time and caring responsibilities where we see a more complex and nuanced picture of progress. In France, more women than men do cooking and housework and care for children, grandchildren, older people or people with disabilities every day for at least 1 hour. The gender gap in care activities is among the highest in the EU.

While quotas remain a useful way to achieve gender balance in terms of quantity, the quality of workplace cultures and the systemic inequalities outside the workplace mean that women are potentially taking on higher levels of responsibility without any reduction in caring or domestic loads, and an increase in the ‘mental load’. Another indicator is the time spent with children where we see France countering the trend in large high-income countries to spend more time with children. In France, mothers, both university and non-university educated, have seen a declining trend in the time spent with children.

While legally sanctioned gender (and other) quotas set the tone for companies to improve equality, in isolation these initiatives may be limited. There are problems with having a fragmented policy approach to gender equality and a lack of coordination around policies. A broader social approach with accompanying support is required for more gender-equal societies. Consequently, gender quotas should not be seen as the end result of the debate, but as the start of a process of renegotiating women’s position and the social construction of gender in general.