CIRCULAR ECONOMY’S POTENTIAL HELD BACK BY THE GENDER GAP

Research published in the Journal of Corporate Finance in December 2022 found that companies with greater gender diversity in their management reduce carbon emissions by around 5% more than those with predominantly male managers. Banks with more women on their boards tend to direct more funds towards sustainable investments. Countries with greater female representation in their parliaments are more likely to ratify international treaties on environmental issues.

GREATER PERFORMANCE WITH MORE WOMEN AT THE HELM

But there’s more. Companies with a higher percentage of women on their boards have on average a 74% higher assessment of their social responsibility performance than those with the lowest percentage of women on their boards. This is confirmed by the report Women as levers of change, conducted in 2020 by FP Analytics, which found that companies with a higher proportion of women managers are 32% more transparent in disclosing ESG information and are 47% more profitable (again compared to companies with fewer women at the helm). The advantage is also evident in sustainability performance: between 2013 and 2018, women-led companies reduced energy consumption by 60% more than their competitors with fewer women in charge, while they performed 39% and 46% better respectively on greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption.

A GAP THAT IS NOT JUST ECONOMIC

In light of these figures, the numbers describing the ongoing gap become even more dramatic and glaring. Nearly 2.4 billion women globally – according to the World Bank's report Women Business and the Law 2022 – suffer economic discrimination: the world’s female population earns USD 172 trillion less over the course of a lifetime than the male population, almost double global GDP for one year.

The gap, however, does not only concern economic status: some sectors exclude women's participation more than others or at best relegate them to low-level jobs. And so-called “green jobs” are not without their problems in this regard. According to a report by Irena, the International Renewable Energy Agency, women accounted for 32% of the sector workforce in 2018, compared to 22% in the fossil fuel industry, signalling a slight improvement in the presence of women in fields pertaining to the energy transition compared to the “old” economy. But the broader trend is far from reassuring: according to a study by the International Labour Organization published last year, out of the 100 million new people employed in green jobs in the future, only 30 million will be women, and what’s more, they will be in the lower-paying and more precarious positions.

In fact, if we look at the people in senior roles in strategic sectors such as power generation and essential public services, women account for only 5% of executive board members, 21% of non-executive board members and hold only 15% of senior management roles.

LOW-SKILLED JOBS AND LITTLE ROOM AT THE TOP

Women's lack of representation in higher value-added activities can also be observed globally in the circular economy: their employment is more concentrated in activities such as waste collection and recycling. A survey conducted globally in 2022 and entitled Mapping the status of women in the global waste management sector looked at 607 women from 75 countries to analyse their conditions and propensity to hold positions of responsibility. Conducted by Women of Waste (WOW) and supported by the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), the survey confirmed that “women are overrepresented in the lower-value of the waste flow as well as underrepresented in high-value activities such as design or management of advanced technologies”.

Female entrepreneurs in the sector reported difficulties in acquiring loans, and, if confirmation were needed, women continue to have to juggle work and family responsibilities.

STEM: A BRAKE ON EQUALITY

Another atavistic issue related to discrimination and the legacy of old prejudices is women’s lack of representation in STEM, i.e. science, technology, engineering and mathematics, increasingly at the centre of the double ecological and digital transition. Taking 100 as the total number of people globally choosing STEM disciplines in higher education, only 35 are women. In the field of information and communication technology, the number drops to just 3%.

In Italy, according to Istat data for 2020, only 8% of girls enrol in STEM faculties, compared to 30.3% of boys. In addition, women hardly ever hold top positions in the field of technology and science, despite the fact that in recent years they have represented the majority of university graduates in Italy, and often graduate with better results than the male student population.

Data from Anvur, the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes, show an increase in women's enrolment in the academic year 2021/22 compared to 2011/12 in the Northwest (+32% vs. +25% for men), the Northeast (+29% vs. +25% for men), a comparable situation in Central Italy (+18% for both women and men), and an increase only in men’s enrolment in the South (+16%). Finally, there was a trend towards greater gender balance in STEM in the Islands (+30% for women; +33% for men).

In the academic year 2021/2022, 45,502 male students graduated in these subject areas compared to 28,706 female students, while the difference at doctoral level is not significant: female PhD students accounted for 47.8% and male PhD students for 52.2% in the academic year 2021/22, but in this same academic year, the proportion of female PhD students decreased by 4% compared to 2011/12.

A DANGEROUS SKILLS GAP

The gender divide is further exacerbated by the issue of skills, which is obviously also influenced by stereotypes and historical factors of discrimination. An interesting snapshot in this respect is provided by Linkedin's Global Green Skills Report 2023: only one in eight people in the world of work possess the skills needed for the ecological transition, from emissions accounting to sustainable supply chain management. If we break this figure down between women and men, one in ten women have the necessary sustainability skills, while one in six men possess them. If this is not reversed, there is a risk that the gap will continue to widen also in this area, because workers with appropriate skills can seek better pay. In addition to this, there is another cause for concern: 80% of those who find a “green” job already come from the sector or at least have the necessary skills required.

If there are still fewer women than men with the necessary skills, they will inevitably be excluded from employment in the green economy, all the more so when it comes to transforming some particularly impactful sectors, such as fossil fuels. Historically, these sectors have a very high concentration of male employees, people who moreover have skills very close to, if not overlapping with, those needed to produce energy in a more sustainable way. This may mean that an eco-energy company would rather invest less in training by hiring experienced workers. And once again women will find themselves disadvantaged if there is no targeted investment to develop and update these skills in the female population.

Article by Raffaele Lupoli 
direttore responsabile di EconomiaCircolare.com