São Paulo – The way for women to climb the career ladder is full of setbacks such as the lack of representativeness and opportunities, particularly in middle management positions. So said Brazil’s Claudia Massei (pictured above), CEO of Siemens Oman, during the webinar “Women’s leadership and business resumption.” The event was hosted last Tuesday (30) evening by LIDE Mulher and supported by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC)’s women’s committee WAHI.
The online meeting was part of the LIDE Mulher Talks, which invites businesswomen to discuss different topics. The event featured Nadir Moreno, chair of Lide Mulher UPS Brasil delivery company; Celia Pompeia, executive vice president of Doria Group and vice chair of Lide Mulher; and Geovana Quadros, a member of the Lide Mulher board. In addition to Massei, the event also featured talks by Alessandra Frisso, WAHI chair and H2R Pesquisas Avançadas commercial director; and Patricia Molino, partner and Culture and Change manager of KPMG Brazil.
For Massei, even in companies that have gender quotas in the board, there are some gaps between the lowest and highest ranks in the women’s career. “I believe it helps, but, in these cases, you actually have some women in the highest positions and many women in the lowest positions. But you have a gap in middle management. I believe there should be a gap in the whole ladder. But having women in the board helps. There she can help breaking down prejudices and bias,” the executive pointed out.
Frisso agrees that the lack of opportunities is a setback for the women’s professional rise. “For women, the gap between the operational and the management level and then the strategic level makes the ladder hard to climb as it’s almost vertical,” she said.
Having worked in other countries such as Germany, Massei currently lives in the Gulf and believes there’s still much room for women to rise in the region. “It’s hard to talk about women’s leadership when you don’t have many examples of it, but the few examples we have here are simply amazing. You realized that, for women to be successful here, they have to make a greater effort than men. I believe this is a reality throughout the world,” said the Brazilian who’s also a World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leader and a Linkedin Top Voice 2020.
Molino, who also spoke during the event, stressed that the difficulty in climbing the corporate ladder encompasses the burden of unpaid labor, which includes activities such as raising children and housework. “The UN points out that women do 75% of all unpaid work. I believe the pandemic brough about a disruption as it evidences the risk. The caregivers are in the frontline. And when this work increases, it largely falls on women. We also know that, in times of crisis, minority rights are endangered. Many women have simply quit because they couldn’t do this without support. That’s what we call a shecession – an economic downturn where job and income losses are affecting women more than men,” she said.
The solution may be in concrete actions carried out by companies. “Some companies require that at least 50% of the middle management in operation areas are composed of women,” said Moreno. According to the executive, this is related to the women’s propensity to make decisions in certain areas. “It’s crucial that companies set goals and decide what kind of programs could help achieve gender equity,” she said during the event.
Pompeia believes that having women working the Arab countries in the event enriches the debate. “It’s great for us as it starts a great partnership,” she said on the support of the ABCC’s women’s committee. “It’s only by joining forces that we can achieve a better society,” finished Quadros.
You can watch the full event on ABCC’s YouTube channel.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
