The impact of gender diversity on business performance

Context

Although women today are just as well-qualified as men, or even more so, their situation in the labour market remains significantly worse: they generally hold lower-paid jobs and are under-represented in management positions. Giving women access to jobs and roles traditionally reserved for men appears to be one of the key drivers of gender equality in the labour market. To this end, and to ensure that quota policies designed to promote gender parity are genuinely accepted and remain effective over time, it is essential to put an end to the stereotypes that certain jobs are better suited to men than to women. This is precisely the aim of this study, which sets out to analyse the link between gender diversity in companies and their performance – in financial, economic and social terms alike.

Presentation

Using data on companies in France and the United Kingdom, the study provides a rigorous statistical analysis of the link between gender diversity within companies and their performance. The analysis is not limited to economic and financial performance alone, but also includes a range of criteria relating to the functioning of work teams, the quality of working relationships, employee satisfaction and the trust employees place in their managers. Finally, where the data allow, the effect of an increase in the proportion of women in the workforce on the perceptions of female and male employees is examined separately.

Research Team

This project is led by the pole Labour.