English translation of an archived publication. The roles, rules and references cited reflect its original publication date.
Ten years after legislation introduced quotas for women on the boards of medium-sized and large companies, women now hold more than 44% of seats, compared with 6% in 2006. This is far from the case in executive bodies, however, which the government is firmly determined to change.
Leading the way in female representation on boards, France could remain out in front in light of the government’s forthcoming proposals to enable greater gender parity in corporate leadership positions.
One example of these new tools for tackling inequality is the professional equality index introduced by the law on the freedom to choose one’s professional future, which has applied to all companies with more than 50 employees since 1 March 2020.
The High Council for Equality between Women and Men reviews the impact of this legislation: