Italy To Impose Minimum Quota For Women In Corporate Boardrooms

Italian companies will be required to appoint more women in their boardroom by 2015, reported the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, after the government passed a new “pink quota” that aims to address one of the lowest gender representation ratios across Europe.

Presently, just 6 percent of all corporate board members in Italy are women, though the government has targeted for this figure to rise to one-third starting from 2015.

Italian companies will be required to appoint more women in their boardroom by 2015, reported the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, after the government passed a new “pink quota” that aims to address one of the lowest gender representation ratios across Europe.

Presently, just 6 percent of all corporate board members in Italy are women, though the government has targeted for this figure to rise to one-third starting from 2015.

Italy also has the second-lowest level of women’s workforce participation in Europe, after Malta, with just 46.5 percent of all Italian women between the ages of 15 and 64 years at work, compared to the European average of 58.5 percent.

Related: EU Wants Minimum Quota For Women In Corporate Boardrooms

Related: Survey Finds One in Five Women Never Had a Mentor

According to the Alessia Mosca, a member of parliament for the centre-left Democratic Party and co-author of the new “pink quotas” law, the change was necessary to “set off cultural change” in the country, where cultural factors and rigid labour laws still make it hard for women to even work part-time after having children.

[quote]”We needed a shock to the system,” said Mosca.[/quote]

And while some women have expressed doubt over such blatant affirmative action, most recognise the need to change corporate stereotypes over gender roles.

“It’s been a disappointment for me as a woman to need a pitchfork to join a board,” said Elisabetta Magistretti, who serves on the board of Pirelli, Luxottica and investment bank Mediobanca SpA.

[quote]”But, without this new law, companies would have never thought about us. Now, it’s up to women to demonstrate they’re well prepared for the job.”[/quote]

According to the Italian law, companies that don’t comply with the new regulations will face progressive sanctions, including fines of up to 1 million euros ($1.25 million).

“I have always been convinced of the need for affirmative action,” said Joyce Bigio, managing partner at International Accounting Solutions, who joined Fiat’s board of directors as an independent board member in April. “It is the only way to break into certain areas and correct an imbalance.”

Related: The Economics of Women in the Workplace

Related: Women At Work: Moving Towards Parity

Related: Infographic: The Growing Buying Power of Women

CIR’s Chief Executive Rodolfo De Benedetti, who last year increased the number of women on its board to 25 percent, added that the higher female representation in boardrooms would hopefully also increase women’s presence at top management positions.

[quote]”Our country had a long way to go. I am in favour of this law because it’s an opportunity to trigger a virtuous cycle,” he said.[/quote]