Is it true that Russia leads in the number of women leaders?
Material prepared: Anastasia Karimova
Yesterday RBC with a link Grant Thornton's research has published the news that Russia supposedly took the first place in the world in the number of women among top managers - women occupy 40% of leading posts in Russian companies. In last year’s Grant Thornton report, Russia also led in the number of women executives in business.
According to other sources, this is not at all so optimistic: experts at Ward Howell state that among the general directors who have taken charge of the largest Russian companies over the past ten years, only four are women (about 1.4%). At the same time, only one of them managed the company for more than a year and a half. Today, only 1% of the CEOs of the largest businesses in Russia are women. In the world, the situation with women at the head of companies is better, but not by much: for example, among the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, only 4.4% are women. We learned from a representative of an international company engaged in hiring senior staff, why the power of women in Russia is a myth.
Galima Akhmadullina counselor Odgers Berndtson
Women in leadership have surrounded us since childhood: the head of the kindergarten, the methodologist, the teacher, the head teacher, the school principal, the doctor, the chief accountant, the head of the personnel department ... It seems that the country is ruled by women. It is probably this delusion that gave rise to the myth that there are many women leaders in Russia. However, it is worthwhile to separate managers and top managers - it’s as incorrect to consider the country's leaders as officials in the administration, just as it is to count the chief accountant as a top manager.
Despite the fact that in our country the number of women in senior positions may seem impressive, according to analysts at Grant Thornton, Russia cannot be considered a country with progressive views on a gender issue. However, the results of their research reveal a long-observed trend: developing countries are much more active than developed countries using any opportunities to stimulate the economy and thereby reduce the gender gap.
Another research institute, the Credit Suisse Research Institute, has been following the gender component of top management and boards of directors of major international corporations for two years. According to this institute, in Russia only 8.1% of women are on the boards of directors. In a report this year, the institute's specialists proved that companies with a high share of women’s participation in management show higher profitability, profitability, level of compensation, and strong positions in the market. It is noteworthy that in companies with a profit of more than 100 million dollars women are mainly engaged in communications.
Photo: 1, cover image via Shutterstock