Gender equality will take 134 years to achieve. Five generations. This is not a catastrophic prediction, but rather the estimate of the Global Gender Gap Report 2024, which photographs a slowdown in the race towards equality. In Italy, the situation is even more complex: the female employment rate stands at 52.5%, compared to 70.4% for men, the lowest figure among the 27 countries of the European Union.

Women remain under-represented in top positions, where they hold just 11.5% of management roles, and earn salaries that are more than 20% lower than their male colleagues. While in Italy only about 36% of managerial positions are held by women, countries such as Iceland, Finland and Norway boast much higher scores, with greater female representation at all levels of the productive sector.

Among other things, a differentiation must be made: women represent 36% of Italian managers, but only 18% hold positions covered by executive contracts. These figures weigh heavily on the present and future of the country. According to the Confartigianato Research Department, if the female employment rate in Italy were to align with the European average, GDP would grow by €154.7 billion, equal to 7.4 percentage points.

An enormous potential that remains stalled between wage discrimination, involuntary part-time work, parental leave taken almost exclusively by mothers, and a system that perpetuates the burden of care-giving responsibilities on women. Five hours a day compared to just over two for men, based on data from the Job Pricing Observatory: Italy ranks fifth in the world in terms of countries where this imbalance is most pronounced.

Gender equality and green transition

A useful insight comes from the work of FEPS, the Foundation for European Progressive Studies, which has for years advocated a transformative approach to gender equality. According to FEPS, inequality as a phenomenon is not confined to professional opportunities, but an element that cuts across all public policies, including environment, energy and innovation.

In fact, there are no “neutral” policies: every economic or industrial decision has a different impact on men and women, especially when the starting conditions are not equal. FEPS highlights two structural issues in particular: gender segregation in employment, which places women in lower-paid sectors or those with fewer growth prospects; the burden of unpaid care work, which leads to discontinuous, reduced or penalised participation in the labour market. Without addressing these two pillars, even the most innovative policies risk creating new gaps instead of reducing them. 

Green transition, furthermore, if managed without gender awareness, can amplify inequalities. FEPS analysis of climate policies indicates that women suffer more from the economic and social impacts of industrial transformation, particularly in contexts where care services are lacking, and the labour market remains deeply segregated.

Conversely, a gender-mainstreamed approach to environmental policy would make it possible to: increase female employment in high-growth sectors (renewable energy, circular economy, green tech); make the transition more equitable and socially sustainable; connect environmental investments with those in the care economy, as suggested by the FEPS-supported Care4Care Alliance. In other words, climate justice also depends on gender justice. And companies that today invest in sustainability have a direct responsibility to build truly inclusive organisational models.

How are companies dealing with gender gap

Yet something is changing. A number of companies have stopped considering diversity and inclusion as a regulatory obligation or a section of the social report to be filled in by the end of the year. They have realised that addressing the gender gap means rethinking corporate culture, internal processes, language and welfare policies. And that results are measured in the medium to long term, not with one-off interventions or sporadic campaigns. This approach emerges from two specific experiences, developed with the support of InVento Lab, a B Corp social enterprise specialised in sustainability and social innovation projects: Yves Rocher Italia and Sicim.

In 2022, Yves Rocher Italia, a benefit corporation since 2021, launched a project with InVento Lab which was initially called the Diversity & Inclusion Observatory. Today, that project has become a permanent D&I Working Group, involving the entire company population: from the head office to the commercial network of shops, to the sellers in the direct sales channel, who represent a significant part of the company's business model. The starting point was to snap a picture of the status quo, to understand where the company stood, what its strengths were and where there were critical issues or room for improvement.

From then on, year after year, efforts were made to implement tangible actions. In 2024, the group began to reach out to the outside world: a dedicated newsletter, double interviews published on the company website between colleagues or between people who highlight diversity. Small matters that were often taken for granted but which, when shared, had an impact on the individuals themselves and on the corporate community.

In 2023, for example, there were times when volunteers shared personal experiences: one young man talked about coming out, showing how the issue of diversity and inclusion is deeply cross-cutting and not limited to gender alone. Awareness-raising events were also organised on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, with the aim of keeping the spotlight on an issue that too frequently is only addressed at that time of year and then disappears from the radar.

What emerges from Yves Rocher's experience is crucial: companies often lack a long-term vision. Many companies launch one-off initiatives, possibly in response to legislation or to improve their public image, but then the issue is forgotten. The permanent working group model is effective precisely because it is a process, not a superficial exercise. It helps the whole company to grow as a community, creating a cultural change that cannot be imposed from above but must be built together, with the active contribution of individuals.

Inclusive communication and shared guidelines

Sicim, world leader in the design and construction of energy sector plants based in Busseto (Parma), has followed a different but complementary path. Here, InVento Lab developed a project on inclusive communication, focusing on the company's headquarters. Informative and in-depth sessions were organised, also analysing existing corporate communication channels to identify where exclusionary language or wording was used, even unconsciously.

Together with the InVento Lab team, participants developed inclusive communication guidelines, but not just as theoretical documents. Practical case studies were developed, and the team worked together on feedback, ensuring that the results became shared company knowledge. This is because guidelines only make sense if they become part of everyday practice, changing the way emails are written, presentations are structured, and colleagues communicate with each other. Language is a seemingly small issue, yet it has a huge impact.

Sexist expressions, gender stereotypes hidden in seemingly harmless jokes, wordings that assume certain roles are reserved for men or women: all this reinforces a discriminatory system. Addressing the issue of inclusive communication involves questioning deep-rooted cultural automatisms and requires constant work, not just a one-off training course.

Strategic approach and long-term vision

What Yves Rocher and Sicim have in common is the awareness that addressing the gender gap and promoting diversity requires a strategic, long-term approach. A one-off campaign or event is not enough. Instead, it is necessary to build structured pathways, involve people, give them the tools to recognise bias and stereotypes, and provide spaces for discussion and listening.

It is a cultural paradigm shift that takes time, resources and patience. Above all, it requires a willingness to question established practices, even when they work well from an economic perspective. For the point is not just to do business better, even though evidence shows that diverse and inclusive work groups are more innovative and perform better. The point is to build organisations that are fairer, more equitable and more enjoyable for all employees.

In a country where 64% of inactivity is female, where women do not work for care reasons in 34% of cases compared to 2.8% of men, where only 21.1% of managers are women and only 2.9% of CEOs in listed companies are women, every practical initiative counts. It matters because it proves that it is possible to do things differently, that change is not a utopia but a process that can be designed, implemented and measured.

InVento Lab, which has followed both projects, is an example of how social innovation can support companies in these processes. Not by providing ready-made solutions, but by co-designing with organisations, starting from their specific contexts, their challenges and their people. For every company has their own history, culture and dynamics: no universal recipes exist, but there are principles and tools that can be adapted and translated into concrete actions. When working with a long-term vision, results will come. Not tomorrow, perhaps not even in five years. But sooner than the 134 years estimated by the Global Gender Gap Report. Much sooner.

Cover: Envato image