Gender equality: a major challenge in the opinion of SME and ISE managers

The survey published by the Banque Palatine Observatory of SMEs and ISEs in September 2020 focuses on gender equality, an issue that remains highly topical despite competing concerns about the economic environment and health crisis.

While 91% of the managers of small-, medium- and intermediate-sized enterprises believe that professional equality is respected in their own company, barely more than half consider that this is the case in the wider professional world, in society in general, or in the world of politics.

More than 80% of participants point to the wage gap between men and women and identify childbearing as a major obstacle to professional advancement. For 87% of female managers and two-thirds of the participants, it is more necessary for women to prove their professional skills.

This monthly Palatine Observatory of SME-ISEs survey was carried out by OpinionWay in collaboration with Challenges between August 17 and 28, 2020 among 302 senior managers (of companies generating net sales of between €15m and €500m) active in retailing, manufacturing and construction, and the service industries.

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