Women’s access to top management in financial services and semi-state bodies

Women hold only 5.2% of senior management positions in semi-state organisations, while in financial services they occupy 27.5% of key positions. Almost two thirds of women in the latter sector believe that they have fewer opportunities for career advancement than men have. These are among the findings of a 2005 study, conducted by the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation, on women’s access to senior management positions in these two sectors. The study identifies the reasons behind women’s restricted promotion prospects and puts forward measures for improving the situation.

About the study

In the second half of 2005, the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (Ομοσπονδία Εργοδοτών και Βιομηχάνων, OEB) conducted a study on women’s access to top management positions in banks and semi-state organisations. Its findings were published on 28 March 2006. The study was part of a broader aim on the part of OEB to promote equal opportunities between women and men at the workplace. The particular focus of the investigation arose out of a previous OEB study, conducted in 2004, on the position of women in the labour market in Cyprus. The 2004 study found that women occupy only 14.4% of top management positions.

Given the existing knowledge gap on this issue, the latest OEB study is an important initiative and constitutes an example of good practice. However, its results may only provide a rough indication of the situation, since the sample included only 18% of all women employed in the abovementioned sectors, most of them in the Lefkosia province.

Situation of women in top management positions

On the basis of the study’s results, women hold only 5.2% of senior management positions in semi-state organisations, while in the banks surveyed they occupy 27.5% of key positions.

Despite the particularly low proportion of women in senior management positions in semi-governmental organisations, the majority (63%) of women in this sector believe that their opportunities for upward mobility are equal to those of men. This opinion is not shared, however, by female bank employees, of whom 63.47% believe that their opportunities for career advancement in the bank where they work are worse, or much worse, than those of men.

In both sectors of economic activity, women aged between 36 and 45 years appear to be most dissatisfied. Nevertheless, all women who hold postgraduate degrees believe that their opportunities for career advancement are equal to those of men. Comparing the position with the former EU15 countries, the majority of Cypriot women in both sectors surveyed believe that their opportunities for career advancement are fewer, or far fewer, than those of their European counterparts.

Reasons for women’s limited upward mobility

The study findings reveal that the main reasons for women’s participation in the labour market are, in order of priority: maintaining financial independence – at 57% in semi-government organisations and 65% in banks; and earning a living – at 54% and 57.3%, respectively. Pursuing a career occupies fourth place, at 45%, in semi-government organisations and ranks third place, at 54.4%, in banks. Conversely, supplementing family income occupies third place, at 46%, in semi-government organisations and fourth place, at 43.9%, in banks. In both cases, reasons of a social nature – such as contributing to society as a whole, gaining experience and meeting people – are also cited but to a lesser extent.

Family responsibilities, and prejudices and stereotypes are the two main reasons restricting or preventing women from occupying senior management positions in the two sectors of economic activity under analysis. Lack of flexible working hours ranks third in importance, at 30% in semi-governmental organisations and at 29% in banks. In fourth place is the lack of retraining opportunities; other reasons for women’s limited upward mobility include lack of qualifications, sexual harassment and low wage levels.

Proposed measures to assist women up the ladder

Availability of mainly state-run childcare facilities – as well as the elimination of prejudices and stereotypes – are seen as the most effective measures for assisting women in taking up management positions. In this regard, aspects also of importance include: support from husbands or partners; the introduction of flexible working hours; measures for increasing awareness of the issue; and training staff at all levels. In both semi-state organisations and banks, relatively small proportions of positions have been filled as a result of introducing quotas (20% and 28%) and part-time work (14% and 13%).

Apart from the aforementioned measures, 76% of women in semi-state organisations and 79% of women in banks would also be willing to make personal sacrifices in order to be promoted. These would include participating in training programmes outside of working time, carrying out non-job-related duties, devoting more time to work and less time to the family, working overtime without pay and carrying out further studies.

Further information

More information on the new OEB study is available on the OEB website.

Polina Stavrou, INEK/PEO