March 2019Women's leadership in digital times2 Women's leadership in digital timesCoverphoto: Justine Beckett/GettyImagesWomen's leadership is increasingly becoming a major issue for companies around the world. It is now a ques-tion of breaking the glass ceiling, and empowering women despite the stereotypes around the perception of their jobs and image. In this context, firms must sup-port women's initiatives to help them work their way up the ladders of leadership. nullet, according to a study by Inullnull, nullnullof women manag -ers acknowledge the constraints of family life as the pri-mary cause of discrimination against women at work. nullme and family responsibilities still rest on women's shoulders. null the same time, women are now employed to the same extent as men and aspire to the same career opportunities. nullme would consider home manage -ment so time consuming that, after having children, women may have little option but to accept jobs with less responsibility, preventing them from moving into leadership positions. Is this really sonullWorldwide there is considerable action taking place on workplace gender equality. In nullhina, nullane nullun, nullnullnull of nullrip, aims to promote gender equality by opposing sex -ist job ads and encouraging women to speak up about their achievements. In nullermany, nulltarina nullrley, nullnis -ter of nullabor and nullcial nullffairs, issued an ultimatum to the nation's top businesses to get more women into boardrooms voluntarily or face being forced to. In nullance, nullesident nullmanuel nullcron has proclaimed equality between women and men as the nullreat national causenullof his five-year term. nullnd in the nullnited nulltates, Ivanka nullrump pledged at the nullepublican nullational nullon-vention to fight for working women. In nullnull, our nullgital nulluality study aimed at providing an international perspective on how digital transformation is changing women's work lives, and the extent to which it facilitates their careers. nullis time we want to look at the solutions digital could offer to work-life balance is-sues. nullnce digital can reduce workloads and help wom -en balance their occupational and family responsibili-ties, could digital enable women to achieve leadership at worknullnullw can we ensure domestic duties do not jeop -ardinulle women's career progressionnull nullow can we have a new work-life balance and close gender gapsnullnullis is what the nullomen's leadership in digital timesnull study, conducted by nulloland nullrger with the support of nulllash nullweet and null'International au nullnullminin, sought to understand through an online survey of more than nullnullnullpeople conducted from nulltober to nullcember nullnull in nullina, nullance, nullermany and the nullnited nullates.Women's leadership has a different meaning depending on whether you are talking to someone from nullina, nullance, nullermany or the null. nullese countries have many different cultural, social and economic realities, which are interesting for us to compare. nullo identify relevant connections or to point out existing differences, it is therefore essential to take sociodemographic, economic and social criteria into account.We also looked at the evolving relationship with digital among genders and generations, and the extent to which it could help empower women. nullnally, we com -piled some recommendations, for both companies and individuals, to reduce these inequalities and ultimately to promote women as leaders. nulloland nullrger focused on addressing women's empowerment and gender equality in a comparative perspective. We invite you to share these findings so that more women become lead-ers nullin all areasnull1 Institut du Mécénat de Solidariténulla network of companies invested in social innovation since nullnullIntroductionWomen's leadership in digital times 3Source: Survey, Roland BergerUSA329 mGermany81 mFrance65 m49% 51%51% 49%MethodologyThe “Women's leadership in digital times“ study draws on an online survey of more than 1,500 people in China, France, Germany and the United States, conducted from October to December 2017.63% of respondents are women and 37% are men.16% are aged 18 to 25 years, 29% are 26 to 35, 33% are 36 to 50 and 22% are over 51.11% of the panel comprises students, 7% are entrepreneurs, 54% are employed, 11% are company managers and 6% are unemployed. Four countries are represented in the panel, with most respondents hailing from France (33%), followed by the United States (28%), Germany (19%) and China (11%).This detailed survey was complemented by quantitative and qualitative analyses structured to produce a monograph on gender equality for each observed country. The wide range of indicators included education, employment, gender pay gap, female share of seats on boards, proportion of time spent on unpaid work, maternity and paternity leave, and sociocultural perspectives).Interviews were also carried out with women leaders, and consultations held with experts such as:Sarah Piper, professor at the University of HarzHélène Périvier, economist at the OFCE, coordinator of the EGERA programAnne Solaz, research director at INEDCountry dataPopulation and gender split49% 51%4 Women's leadership in digital timesChina1.4 bn50% 50%Women represent a significant and well educated workforce, which should be better utilized than it is. We also see that women are reaching the level of education of men, and even tending to surpass it.Women MenWomen are more and more qualified Share of 25-34-year-olds who have completed tertiary educationSource: OECDChinaFrance Germany USA49%30%44%32%52%39%18%18%Women's leadership in digital times 5Unsuspected inequalities?In 2017, our Digital Equality study looked at the obstacles to women's professional advancement. We found that many obstacles originate outside of the working environment. The biggest barriers to equality in labor force participation and professional advancement lie at home, in the unequal sharing of domestic and family responsibilities between women and men. Leaders at homenull average over the year, women spend nullnullof their day on unpaid domestic and care work, while men spend only null of their day on such activities. nullis gap shows that household and family duties weigh especially heav-ily on the shoulders of women. nullrthermore, the vast majority of respondents nullen and womennullrecogninull that this responsibility lies first and foremost with wom-ennullnullnullof them agree that more than half of domestic and family tasks are handled by women. Women are clearly still the main home managers, with nullnullof respondents recogninullng that women plan and execute most household chores. nulls the researcher nullne nullolanull points out, even though domestic and family re-sponsibilities are better shared than before, it is mainly because women devote less time to them thanks to tech-nological progress and higher productivity, not because of a better balance. nullshwashers, washing machines and vacuum cleaners save women time and effort. nulln carry out little more household work, while women have become more effective in doing so. nullere is room for improvement to continue along this path, especially in acknowledging the time spent on household chores. nullor now, couples are faced with a floor that cannot be undercut, corresponding to the minimum tasks that need to be undertaken to keep the household running smoothly, and which are mostly done by women. In addition, parenting makes it even more difficult to reconcile work and family lives. nullrengthening parent -hood policies and working in collaboration with family units are therefore the best ways to ensure women's full participation in the workforce. In this respect, the ob-served countries have very different approaches to what constitute the most efficient family policies.Women spendof their day on unpaid domestic and care work.of their day on it. while men spend only16%9%Women's leadership in digital times 7Even if domestic tasks are better shared within the household, 83% of respondents state that women still do more than half the work.Women carry out more than half of domestic and family duties, regardless of their professional status. To what extent do you agree with this statement?34%42%44%48%11% 14%13% 10%3% 3% 4% 3%32%49%15%10%6% 2%40%38%46%27%20%4%10%22%6% 6% 2% 5%40%52%41%39% 39%47%39%34%52%42%46%43%13%4%18-25 years old26-35 years old36-50 years old51+ years oldMen WomenFrance1USAGermany ChinaAGEGENDERCOUNTRIESTOTALStrongly agree Disagree Strongly disagreeAgree1 Geographical answers recalculated based on a 1:1 ratio between men and women to avoid the over-representation of female answers in FranceSource: Survey, Roland Berger8 Women's leadership in digital times85% of respondents believe that management of home life is mainly handled by women, a feeling shared evenly across panel segments. Do you think that women take on greater responsibilities in the management and planning of home life than men?AGEGENDERCOUNTRIESTOTALStrongly agree Disagree Strongly disagreeAgree1Geographical answers recalculated based on a 1:1 ratio between men and women to avoid the over-representation of female answers in FranceSource: Survey, Roland Berger44%49%42%45%11%1%20%28%57%38%43%13%1%52%11%1%49%11%1%14%3%7%1%21%3%29%2%13%1%14%1%13%2%43% 43%36%39%45%35%48%49%44%41%36%18-25 years old26-35 years old36-50 years old51+ years oldMen WomenFrance1USAGermany ChinaWomen's leadership in digital times 9France is by far the most advanced in terms of parenthood policies.Source: Survey, Roland BergerChina France USA 1 = lowest support 4 = highest supportGermanyBEFOREBirth controlFamily planning, reimbursement, abortionSocial egg freezingLegality, incentives from companies, reimbursementPREGNANCY AND BIRTHMaternity leaveLength, remuneration, legal obligationPaternity leaveLength, remuneration, legal obligationParental leaveLength, remuneration, legal obligationPARENTHOODReturn to workPosition guarantee, remuneration guarantee, legal obligationChildcareAllowances, subsidized structures, public interventionScore on support from public policies (incentives and laws)1 2 3 410 Women's leadership in digital times