Raising the awareness of companies about combating gender stereotypes (VC/2007/0350) BREAK GENDER STEREOTYPES, GIVE TALENT A CHANCE FRANCE

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1 Raising the awareness of companies about combating gender stereotypes (VC/2007/0350) BREAK GENDER STEREOTYPES, GIVE TALENT A CHANCE FRANCE NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN CHARGE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INITIATIVE AT NATIONAL LEVEL: Name Address Union Nationale Retravailler 31 rue de Buzenval PARIS Phone Fax info@retravailler.org Website Contact persons Ms Françoise Nallet-Fillon / Ms Joëlle Jonquières Organisational network: 18 regional associations covering the whole country, and managing 80 antennas. It is part of the network European Working Association (EWA) Institutional partnerships: Association Nationale pour la formation professionnelle des adultes (AFPA) Agence nationale pour l emploi (ANPE) Délégation Générale à L Emploi et à la Formation Professionnelle (DGEFP) Service des Droits des Femmes et de l Egalité (SDFE) Name AGEFOS PME Champagne-Ardenne Address Business Center Santos Dumont BP Reims CEDEX 2 Phone Website gvaucouleur@agefos-pme.com Contact persons Mr Gérard VAUCOULEUR

2 Number of SMEs associated: 297,000 member companies, of which 85% employ less than 10 persons. They account for 5,120,000 employees. Organisational network: 1 national HQ, 24 regional delegations (overseas departments included), a local network of 84 permanent establishments, 1,100 collaborators in the field, and 400 advisers. Nearly 140,000 visits are provided to companies each year. Institutional partnerships: Assemblée des Chambres Françaises de Commerce et d'industrie (ACFCI) Association nationale pour la Formation Professionnelle des Adultes (AFPA) Agence Nationale de Lutte contre l Illettrisme (ANLCI) Comité National de Coordination et d Evaluation des Groupements d Employeurs pour l Insertion et la Qualification (CNCE GEIQ) Ministry of Education Fédération Française des Groupements d Employeurs (FFGE) Service des Droits des Femmes et de l Egalité National Focal Points: Ms Francoise Nallet-Fillon (Union Retravailler) francoise.nallet@retravailler.org Expert on Gender Issues and SMEs in the country: Ms Ruxandra Boros ruxandraboros@gmail.com Mr Gerard Vaucouleur (AGEFOS PME) gvaucouleur@agefos-pme.com DATE AND VENUE OF THE WORKSHOP Break Gender Stereotypes, Give Talent a Chance : September 2008 AGEFOS PME 189 quais de Valmy 75010, Paris Cedex 10 (France)

3 NATIONAL AND LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS INVITED/INVOLVED IN THE INITIATIVE: Macro level: Meso level: Equal opportunities institutions AGEFOS PME Economic sectors (38 branches, 180,000 members) : Real estate Rubber Textile industry Saving Societies Professional sectors (120,000 members) : Construction Transports Automobile Health and Social Sports Micro level: Employers organizations Chamber of Trades Union Retravailler 10 representatives of enterprises that received the «Label égalité» Others as observers rather than as participants

4 SMEs IN THE COUNTRY: SMEs are a major part of the French economy. The 2.4 million SMEs in France represent 99.8% of the total enterprises, excluding agriculture, in industry, commerce and services, financial activities, real estate rentals and administration 1. SMEs employ 7.9 million people, account for 65% of total assets and for 51% of turnover (or sales). SMEs employ over two thirds of the total labour force, both as salaried and non-salaried employees 2. SMEs in France do not have a large share of exports or investments: the industry, commerce and services category is accountable for only 28% of the exports and 36% of the investments. However, SMEs have a major weight in two sectors: the construction and public works (88% of employment and 53% of added value) and commerce (75% of employment and 39% of added value). Regarding geographical coverage of SMEs in France, most are based in the south of the country 3. Under current gender patterns of the labour market in France, women are segregated at two levels: horizontally, as they are more concentrated than men in selected sectors of the economy and vertically, as they occupy fewer positions of responsibility than men. The lack of workers in growing sectors where men predominate, such as the construction industry combined with increased numbers of women graduates from study fields perceived as being masculine, are factors that might bring about changes in the future gender patterns of the labour force in SMEs. GENDER SEGREGATION IN THE LABOUR MARKET (*): Gender segregation in economics sectors 17.6% Gender segregation in occupation 26.3% These indexes measure gender segregation in the French labour market in 2005; the higher the value of both indexes, the higher the segregation biased against women. Women are highly concentrated in health and social work, education, retail trade, public administration and business activities. These 5 sectors account for almost 57% of women employed, while men are less concentrated in specific sectors than women. The sectors with highest concentration of men are construction, public administration and business activities. It is worth noting the low proportion of women working in typical male sectors such as construction, industry and agriculture. As in the rest of the EU, in France women tend to concentrate into fewer occupations than men. Most women work as domestic helpers, carers, salespersons, secretaries and administrative workers. Many of these professions are traditionally considered to be feminine (nurses, child care) and are often undervalued in society and thus less well paid. Their pay often does not reflect their real value, physical difficulty and 1 Delphine Irac, The contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises to growth, A review of the literature, Macroeconomic Analysis and Forecasting Directorate, Analysis and Forecasts Division, Banque de France Bulletin Excerpts from the September 2007 issue, pp.2 2 Rapport fait au nom de la commission des finances, de l économie générale et du plan sur le projet de loi de finances pour 2003 (n 230), par M. Gilles Carrez, rapporteur général, député, enregistré à la présidence de l'assemblée nationale le 10 octobre Annexe n 17 - économie, finances et industrie : PME, commerce et artisanat, par M. Jean-Jacques Descamps, rapporteur spécial 3 «Carte d identité des PME», Etudes et Statistiques, Entreprises en Bref, N 9, Ministère de l économie, des finances et de l industrie, janvier 2003

5 responsibility. Men concentrate in much more occupations than women, mainly as technicians, engineers, trade workers, department managers and architects. These occupations are generally better paid and have more social recognition than the occupations in which women are concentrated. The occupational segregation observed corresponds to traditional gender stereotypes, such as men being providers and women carers. GENDER ISSUES AND STEREOTYPES (*): Cultural factors such as gender stereotypes can also explain differences in the labour market between men and women. Traditionally, women have acted as housewives and sacrificed their work life in order to take care of their families. Still today the common stereotype in society is to view women as mothers in charge of house chores and they occupy fewer high ranked and better remunerated jobs than men. Nonetheless, women are more qualified than men: in 2001, 58% of European graduates were women 4. Two factors could then explain women s lesser pay despite their higher qualifications. First, girls predominantly chose less well paid professions, which will influence their future careers. Secondly, women s careers are frequently interrupted by maternity leaves or periods of part-time employment. Consequently women reach more rarely than men jobs with the highest pay and responsibilities. However, in France and other EU and developed world countries the trend of cohabiting heterosexual couples where women have the higher income is growing. (*)From the review of the national situation for the purpose of the workshop in France produced in the framework of the Contract Raising the awareness of companies about combating gender stereotypes, commissioned by the European Commission to the International Training Centre of the ILO in partnership with EUROCHAMBRES. 4 Women, science and technology: measuring recent progress towards gender equality, Statistics in focus, Science and Technology, Theme 9 6/2004, Eurostat, European Communities, ISSN

6 This document was prepared by the International Training Centre of the ILO in partnership with the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (EUROCHAMBRES) under the framework of the Contract Raising the awareness of companies about combating gender stereotypes commissioned by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. This document is supported by the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity ( ). This programme was established to financially support the implementation of the objectives of the European Union in the employment and social affairs area, as set out in the Social Agenda, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon Strategy goals in these fields. The seven-year Programme targets all stakeholders who can help shape the development of appropriate and effective employment and social legislation and policies, across the EU-27, EFTA and EU candidate and pre-candidate countries. PROGRESS mission is to strengthen the EU contribution in support of Member States commitments and efforts to create more and better jobs and to build a more cohesive society. To that effect, PROGRESS will be instrumental in: (1) providing analysis and policy advice on PROGRESS policy areas; (2) monitoring and reporting on the implementation of EU legislation and policies in PROGRESS policy areas; (3) promoting policy transfer, learning and support among Member States on EU objectives and priorities; and (4) relaying the views of the stakeholders and society at large. For further information, see: The information contained in this document does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission.