Gender diversity in Groupe BPCE: where do we stand in 2020?

With the adoption of gender diversity indicators and a wealth of concrete actions, the International Women’s Day provides an ideal opportunity to highlight the Group’s progress in terms of professional equality between men and women.

With the adoption of gender diversity indicators and a wealth of concrete actions, the International Women’s Day provides an ideal opportunity to highlight the Group’s progress in terms of professional equality between men and women.

The main indicators monitoring gender diversity in the workplace have continued to make progress this year, starting with the most recent one: the gender equality index, enshrined in French law since 2019. Calculated individually for each company, it has risen from 83 to 91 out of 100 when consolidated at Group level. It should be remembered that this indicator takes account of five criteria related to equal pay between men and women, with, in the event of a score below 75, the introduction of remedial action. Equal pay is also part of the specifications of the Professional Equality Label awarded by AFNOR, the French standardization body, which has already been obtained or is currently being renewed by 20 Group companies, along with the signing of agreements and the staging of sessions devoted, for example, to building awareness about stereotypes and the need for good communications.
Another closely monitored set of figures: the proportion of female managers in the Group that rose to 43.7% in 2019, a figure that is expected to increase significantly over the long term (see graphics below). More difficult is the progression of women among the Group’s senior managers, a figure that still only stood at 26.4% in 2019, up from 20.4% in 2017.

The place of women among tomorrow’s leaders
To prepare the next generation of senior executives within the Group, the gender diversity policy works at several levels: firstly, through the system dedicated to female managers, “Succeeding in your career as a woman,” from which 99 women benefitted in 2019, but also through programs designed for senior executives – now attended by equal numbers of men and women – and, lastly, the active desire to create a more mixed pool of future executives.

Changing perceptions
More generally, certain initiatives set out to counter the stereotypes acquired from early childhood. These initiatives include the “Future Generations” program, a series of meetings launched by the Elles du Groupe BPCE network at the end of the year with a view to discussing matters with secondary school students. Similarly, other Group employees go out to meet the same audiences in middle and high schools to talk to them about the IT professions, which are still largely dominated by men in companies. It should be noted in this respect that a total of 30 women’s networks are currently active within the Group.