WOMEN MANAGER IN ITALY: THE POWER IS TINTED BY ROSE 

The latest statistics are clear: women managers in Italy are on the rise. According to a study by the Credit Suisse Research Institute, between 2010 and 2015, the number of women on company boards increased 6 times, reaching 30.8%. Italy is therefore in fourth position in the world by number of women managers, preceded by Norway (46.7%), France (34%) and Sweden (33.6%). 

MORE WOMEN, MORE PROFIT 

The Credit Suisse study, titled "The CS Gender 3000: The Reward for Change," not only collects data on the involvement of women in corporate boards, but also analyzes the impact of female management on corporate profit. The result that emerges from the study is that companies characterized by a greater presence of women at the top of the company record high market returns and higher profits. The Credit Suisse survey also refutes the common site of the "Ape Regina syndrome", stating that it is not true that women managers voluntarily hinder their colleagues' career, indeed: compared to the men's CEOs, the women CEOs are 50% more inclined to collaborate with a female CFO, and 55% more to appoint a woman to head a business unit. In particular, in the microfinance sector, women-led institutions have a greater share of women among council members. 

STILL SO MUCH ROAD TO DO 

If on the one hand there is a reversal of course regarding the presence of women in the leadership roles of companies, on the other it is clear that there is still a long way to go for a true equalization of female and male work. According to the Gender Gap Report 2016, the situation has even worsened since 2014: salaries of men, in fact, increased by 0.6%, while those of women have suffered a reduction of 0.7%. To date, for the same jobs and despite the high level of education, women in Italy earn 10.9% less than men, and the pay gap increases with the rise in the professional hierarchy. In fact, women who hold managerial positions earn about 11,000 euros less than their male counterparts.