Communiqué de presse 2007

Deauville, 12 October 2007

PwC discusses enablers ans barrieres to Women’s Economic Participation

Report Released at the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society Meeting

DEAUVILLE, France, 12 October 2007 – PwC launched today a report titled, “Women’s Economic Participation: Enablers, Barriers, Responses” at the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society meeting in Deauville, France. The report provides perspectives and insight from working women, in Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Spain, Sweden and the U.S., with respect to the socioeconomic enablers of and barriers to women’s economic participation in those countries.

The report also provides views on country-specific organisational and governmental interventions to reduce the gender gap and increase female economic participation in these eight countries.

“Creating an enabling environment is a critical step in addressing gender imbalance in the workplace. But what constitutes an enabling environment will differ from society to society. Likewise, what constitutes a barrier to gender diversity will differ also, as will the methods to remove barriers,” said PwC' Global CEO Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr.

There are no surprises in terms of enablers and barriers that impact women’s economic participation. The enablers discussed by the interviewees are: government legislation, access to education, availability of child care, good business practices, and positive societal perceptions. Child care and societal perceptions are also considered barriers, so too are career and family planning and self-imposed barriers.

The report shows that businesses are making real efforts to introduce policies for addressing some of the gender issues that limit women’s participation. Organisations are making efforts to eliminate bias by instituting policies that either educate those with biases and/or ensure that such biases do not limit the recruitment, retention, and progression of female employees. Positive discrimination is also seen as a response to a perceived tendency by women to promote themselves less forcefully than their male counterparts do. Consequently, some organisations have concluded
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that having a greater number of women in decision-making roles can be a mechanism to ensure that qualified women generally do not get left behind in the advancement process. Businesses are also showing support for working families via maternity, paternity and parental leave; lactation rooms, parenting Web sites and classes; flexible work mechanisms; and emergency child care support. Some companies have developed networks – both external and internal – for women.

“Many businesses can point to good progress made in terms of supporting diversity in the workplace and advancing women to middle-management ranks,” said Mr. DiPiazza. “However, it is far from clear if such programmes are actually changing underlying corporate cultures. Increasing women’s economic participation is very much dependent upon changing this mindset. Closing the gender gap in a way that is both supportive of families and economically advantageous to business could be seen as the holy grail of gender diversity interventions.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

  1. Women represent half of PwC’ global workforce at the recruitment level, but only 13 per cent of the Partnership level. The PwC network has made gender diversity a primary goal.
  2. PwC created its Gender Advisory Council (GAC) to lead the effort in helping to advance women within the global firm.
  3. PwC continues to invest in mentoring schemes, networking programmes, flexible working models and innovative developments such as reverse mentoring, bias awareness training and coaching schemes, throughout the global network.
  4. PwC is a sponsor and supporter of the annual Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society and works closely with other organisations such as Catalyst and GlobeWomen to learn how to best support, develop and retain talent.
  5. PwC (www.pwc.com) provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders. More than 146,000 people in 150 countries across our network share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice.

“PwC” refers to the network of member firms of PwC International Limited, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity.

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