Home>Feminization and academic background of Cac 40 executive and management committee members
09.05.2022
Feminization and academic background of Cac 40 executive and management committee members
Over the past 10 years, the executive committees of Cac 40 companies have seen an increase in their share of women, which evolved from 8% (1) women in 2012 to 23.5% in 2022. In 2014, they comprised 10.3% (2) women, before rising to 17% (3) in 2017 and 19% in 2019. In this article, we will examine whether this gradual feminization of executive committees of Cac 40 companies over the past 10 years has been associated with a diversification of the academic profiles of the women and men who make up these bodies, by looking at the types of degrees obtained and the Grandes Ecoles and universities attended by them.
François-Xavier Dudouet, sociologist and director of research at the CNRS, and Hervé Joly, also director of research at the CNRS and specialized in contemporary history, looked at the academic background of women and men in management positions (5) in Cac 40 companies and found that in 2007, 84% of them came from the Grandes Ecoles and 67% from the best Grandes Ecoles. Three institutions in particular (Polytechnique, ENA and HEC) were overrepresented and "supplied 46% of French women and men in top management positions" in the Cac 40 in 2007. A study conducted more than 10 years later by Michel Ferrary (professor of management at the University of Geneva), which analyzed the evolution of the academic background in members of the boards of directors and supervisory boards in Cac 40 companies between 2008 and 2017 indicates that the increase in the number of women in boards of directors/supervisory boards (under the impulse of the Copé-Zimmermann law of January 27, 2011, which imposed quotas of 40% of women in these boards) was associated with a decrease in the number of graduates of the Grandes Ecoles. Between 2008 and 2017, the proportion of board members of the Cac 40 having graduated from Grandes Ecoles fell from 36.36% to 26.99%. The feminization of Cac 40 boards has therefore been accompanied by a "decrease in the homogeneity of educational backgrounds" and a "greater diversity of degrees".
What about the members of the Cac 40's executive committees ? Has the feminization of these committees (from 10% women in 2013 (6) to 23.5% in 2022) been associated with an educational diversification of their members or has it, on the contrary, reinforced their homogeneity? Does the gradual integration of women into the executive committees of the Cac 40 change the education profile of the members who sit on them? In order to answer these questions, we collected data on the educational background of current members of the Cac 40 executive committees. Based on data collected in March 2022, we will see that the academic profiles of women and men are relatively similar.
In March 2022, the executive committees of the Cac 40 had 565 members, including 133 women (23.5%) and 432 men (76.5%). The average age is 57 and the average time between joining the company and taking up a position on the executive/management committee is 11.5 years.
I - Women, more numerous in the Cac 40's executive/management committees than 10 years ago, have an educational background relatively similar to that of their male counterparts
1) Types of educational paths: the women and men in the sample have similar overall educational backgrounds, consisting of an initial education in economics or business
The first typical male educational path consists of an initial education in economics or business: 35.4% of the men in the sample studied at a French business school or obtained a university degree in economics in France or abroad. Women are slightly more likely to have studied economics or business: 41% of them have studied in a business school or followed a course in economics (abroad or in France).
2) Prestige of the schools attended : the women in the sample have studied at prestigious schools like their male counterparts, thus reinforcing the homogeneity of the profiles of the members of the Cac 40's executive/management committees
Business Schools, ENS, IEP and ENA are represented in similar proportions among the men and women of the sample
Regarding French business schools, 11.3% of women attended HEC, compared to 8% of men. 4.4% of the men in the sample studied at ESSEC, compared to 3.8% of the women. The proportion of women who attended ESCP is perfectly equal to that of men (3% of women, versus 3% of men). Finally, 3.5% of the men in the sample attended Dauphine, compared to 2.3% of the women.
Furthermore, 3% of the women studied at the École Normale Supérieure, compared to 1.2% of the men.
Women and men in the sample studied in similar proportions at the École Nationale d'Administration (ENA), Sciences Po Paris and the other Instituts d'Études Politiques
Regarding the Instituts d'Études Politiques, 10% of men did all or part of their training there, compared to 9% of women. More specifically, 9% of men studied at Sciences Po Paris, compared to 7.5% of women. As many men as women have studied at the École Nationale d'Administration (3.7% for men, versus 3.7% for women).
3) Male and female profiles are highly internationalized
Almost half of the sample (42%) studied abroad for all or part of their education. This high level of internationalization is almost identical for men and women: 46% of women have studied abroad, compared to 41% of men.
II - There are, however, some nuances in this apparent homogeneity of the academic profiles of the men and women of the sample
Firstly, another typical academic pathway, centered on engineering schools, emerges among the men in the sample. Men are more likely to have obtained an engineering degree: 39.4% of men, compared to 27.1% of women.
Secondly, more men than women have studied at top engineering schools. 13% of the men in the sample have studied at the École Polytechnique, compared to 9% of women. More men than women have studied at the École des Mines (4.6% of men, compared to 2.3% of women). Finally, 5% of men studied at Centrale Paris, compared to 2.3% of women.
This overrepresentation of men in engineering schools found in our study is consistent with the figures provided by the Conférence des grandes écoles, according to which the feminization rate of engineering schools was only 32.8% in 2020.
Thus, even if some nuances can be made (especially concerning engineering schools, which are still very male-dominated), the academic profiles of the men and women in the sample tend to be relatively similar (especially in terms of the prestige of the schools attended and the educational paths in business schools) (7). The feminization of the executive committees does not therefore seem to have led to a diversification of educational profiles, as has been the case with the members of the boards of directors/supervisory boards of the Cac 40.
(1) It should be noted that this figure, provided by the Skema Observatory of the feminization of companies, refers to the members of the executive and management committees of the Cac 40 and the CAC Next 20.
(2) “Donner aux femmes toute leur place dans l'économie”, French Ministry of Women's Rights
(3) This figure, provided by the High Council for Equality between Men and Women, however, refers to the top 120 market capitalizations (SBF 120) (p7)
(4) This figure, provided by the High Council for Equality between Men and Women, however, refers to the top 120 market capitalizations (SBF 120) (p7)
(5) The authors define them as members of the board of directors/supervisory board and members of executive and management committees.
(7) If we focus on the most recent arrivals (since 2017) in the executive and management committees, we find the same trends and the same typical backgrounds as for the whole sample. Men have two typical backgrounds (as for the entire sample): 34.4% attended a Business School and 38.5% an engineering school. The pathway for women who arrived since 2017 consists of an initial education in economics (40%), as for the entire sample.
