{"id":11852,"date":"2026-01-23T16:36:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T15:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rivistaeco.com\/?p=11852"},"modified":"2026-01-23T16:36:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T15:36:34","slug":"sustainability-is-also-a-gender-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rivistaeco.com\/en\/2026\/01\/23\/sustainability-is-also-a-gender-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainability Is Also a Gender Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gender equality has become a full-fledged component of corporate social responsibility. Europe is demanding pay transparency and greater female representation on corporate boards. Markets are moving in the same direction, successfully promoting gender bonds, instruments designed to finance projects supporting gender equality. These initiatives are commendable and have produced encouraging results. But they are not enough to reduce career gaps, because they do not address the decisive issue: the distribution of unpaid domestic and care work. Without greater male involvement and corporate cultures that support sharing, equal opportunities risk remaining confined to the top, without extending throughout professional careers.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For a long time, corporate sustainability was synonymous with environmental performance: emissions reduction, energy savings, efficient resource use. Today, especially in Europe, the direction is changing. The \u201cS\u201d in ESG\u2014the social dimension\u2014is acquiring an increasingly important regulatory, political, and financial role. Within this transformation, gender equality has become one of the key factors with which companies, investors, and regulators must engage.<\/p>\n

Equality as a Sustainability Indicator<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The gradual introduction of directives on pay transparency and board quotas signals the European Union\u2019s intention to make gender equality a measurable criterion and a pillar of corporate sustainability. This is a particularly significant choice in the international context: while in the United States there is a growing backlash against many diversity and inclusion initiatives, often scaled back or challenged politically and legally, Europe has chosen the opposite path, strengthening its commitment and keeping gender equality at the center of corporate sustainability policies.<\/p>\n

At the same time, financial markets also appear to be moving in the same direction. Gender bonds\u2014financial instruments designed to fund initiatives supporting gender equality\u2014are growing rapidly, especially in Europe and emerging markets. Moreover, it is increasingly common for listed companies to include detailed indicators on female representation at the top in reports to investors, signaling the deeper integration of these metrics into risk and value assessment processes.<\/p>\n

Why Gender Equality Is Also an Economic Goal<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There are not only equity-based reasons behind attention to gender equality. There is also growing awareness, supported by extensive scientific evidence, that expanding women\u2019s economic opportunities generates widespread benefits. Recent history illustrates this clearly. Between the 1970s and 1990s, a strong \u201cgender convergence\u201d occurred, as Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin has described it, driven by rising female labor force participation, greater access to higher education, and the growth of the service sector. The effects were profound: it is estimated that at least a quarter of US per capita GDP growth between 1960 and the early 2000s stemmed from women\u2019s entry into more productive occupations.<\/p>\n

In recent decades, however, the process has slowed. Women remain underrepresented in the workforce, particularly in higher-paying professions\u2014from STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) to managerial positions\u2014and at the top of the income distribution (the so-called glass ceiling). The gap is especially evident in innovation: in OECD countries, only 13.7% of patent applicants are women.<\/p>\n

The reasons are largely known: education choices shaped by stereotypes, career interruptions related to motherhood, and, above all, a persistent and unequal distribution of unpaid domestic and care work that continues to fall disproportionately on women. The result is inefficient use of human capital and a drag on potential growth. According to the OECD, closing these gaps could increase GDP in member countries by an average of 9.2% by 2060. For Italy, the increase would be 14%.<\/p>\n

To counter gender disparities, public intervention has focused mainly on two instruments: pay transparency measures and the introduction of gender quotas on the boards of major companies.<\/p>\n

Pay Transparency: Why It Is Needed and When It Works<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Despite some progress, gender pay gaps remain significant. On average in the EU, women earn about 12% less than men per hour worked. The gap narrows to 10% when sector, occupation, and education are taken into account, but it does not disappear. Part of the difference stems from the fact that women more often work in less productive firms, a phenomenon that intensifies after motherhood. But even within the same company, for the same role, wage differences persist due to limited information about pay standards and disparities in negotiation processes.<\/p>\n

To address the problem, fourteen European countries have introduced pay transparency measures. Affected firms must disclose their gender pay gap to employees and, in some cases, to the public. Practices vary: in some countries, data are shared only internally; in others, they are published on corporate websites or government platforms. Effectiveness depends greatly on visibility. Where transparency is internal only, effects are limited; where data become public, reputational pressure increases and gaps tend to narrow. In the United Kingdom, for example, the pay gap has declined by nearly 20% relative to pre-reform levels, partly through slower growth in male wages.<\/p>\n

More Women at the Top: The Effects of Board Quotas<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The other major policy front concerns gender quotas on the boards of listed companies. Until the early 2000s, female representation often stagnated between 10% and 15%. With the introduction of quotas\u2014starting in Norway in 2003 and from 2011 in countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands\u2014female representation rose rapidly, surpassing 40% in most adopting countries.<\/p>\n

Initial fears of declining board quality proved unfounded. Numerous studies show that quotas have improved overall board quality, encouraging the appointment of more qualified, better-educated members selected through professional procedures, often involving external headhunters. The effects are not limited to regulated firms. A recent study on Italy shows that even companies linked through a board member\u2014though not formally subject to the law\u2014record increases in female representation and improvements in average board quality.<\/p>\n

By contrast, there is no convincing evidence of \u201cvertical\u201d effects: increasing women\u2019s presence on boards has not yet translated into significant improvements in career opportunities for women at lower managerial levels.<\/p>\n

The Future of Gender Equality<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The pay transparency directive and the board quota directive have helped expose often invisible inequalities and created tangible momentum for change. But equality cannot be reduced to disclosure requirements or representation targets. The structural issue remains the distribution of unpaid domestic and care work, which continues to fall disproportionately on women and limit their career opportunities.<\/p>\n

Closing these gaps requires a dual commitment: political\u2014making parental leave genuinely accessible to fathers and strengthening care services\u2014and corporate\u2014promoting organizational cultures that value the sharing of family responsibilities as an integral part of well-being and productivity. Only by addressing this issue will it be possible to transform progress at the top into substantive equality throughout professional careers, and to make corporate social responsibility not a formal obligation, but a genuine driver of growth and innovation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Federica Meluzzi is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Bocconi University. Her research interests focus mainly on labor economics, with particular attention to the role of public policies in reducing gender inequality.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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