Datafolha: 56% say there are few female bosses – 05/01/2023 – Market

“I’ve been told ‘the job was very well done, it doesn’t even look like a woman’, as if it were a compliment.” “I lost count of the number of times they looked at me crossly for occupying a space where the pattern of white people predominated.”

Who counts is the executive Rachel Maia, who commanded Lacoste and Pandora, in her book “My Path to Chair Number 1” (ed. Globo; 248 pages; R$ 34.99).

Woman, black and of simple origin, she narrates the multiple challenge she had to overcome to share meeting tables occupied mostly by white men.

Trajectories like hers are an exception, but the discomfort with the lack of representation of women and black people in executive command positions is not.

According to Datafolha, for 56% of Brazilians, the number of women today in leadership positions in companies is lower than it should be and 60% say they believe that there are fewer black people than would be appropriate in these leadership positions.

The survey was carried out on March 29 and 30, with 2,028 people from 126 municipalities throughout Brazil. The margin of error for the total sample is 2 points, plus or minus.

Of those interviewed, 25% say they consider the number of women occupying leadership positions adequate and only 17% answered that this number is higher than it should be.

Also 24% say that the number of black people in leadership positions in companies is adequate and 12% consider that it is higher than it should be.

Discomfort with the low female representation at the top of companies is high among those between 16 and 24 years old (61%), higher education (66%) and students (69%).

Those who demonstrate dissatisfaction with the low number of black people in leadership are high among women (64%) and those who have the PT as their preferred party (64%).

The opportunity gap between men and women and between white and black people in the country has been demonstrated in several ways.

In 2021, a study by Made/USP (Center for Research in the Macroeconomics of Inequalities, at the University of São Paulo) pointed out that the 705,000 white men who are part of the richest 1% in the country and represent 0.56% of the adult population they have 15.3% of all income, a larger share than all adult black women combined.

According to the Pnad (National Household Sample Survey) Continuous, by IBGE, in 2022, 19.7% of employed black women were in the sector of education, human health and social services; in commerce, 19.2%; in domestic services, 16.4%.

Among black employed men, 19.5% were in commerce; in the construction sector, 14.8%; in industry, 14.4%; in agriculture, livestock, forest production, fishing and aquaculture, 14.1%.

According to Dieese (Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies), black workers received in 2022 46.3% of the average income obtained by white men. For black men, this proportion was 58.8%.

Last year, the most recent edition of Ifer (Folha de Equilíbrio Racial Index) pointed out that Brazil should take almost 116 years for blacks and browns to have access to the same opportunities as whites.

According to 2016 data from the Ethos Institute, women represent 13.6% of the executive staff and black people are 4.7% of this group in the 500 largest companies in Brazil.

Representation in politics is also insufficient, points out Datafolha

Datafolha also asked how Brazilians considered the space occupied by women and black people in political office.

The space occupied by women in politics is also considered insufficient: 57% say it is less than it should be, 26% that it is adequate and 15% that it is more.

Among women, the perception of insufficient representation is 60% (compared to 54% among men), 64% among the youngest (from 16 to 24 years old) and 60% among voters of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (between those of Jair Bolsonaro, is 54%).

Regarding the presence of black people in politics, the results are similar: it is below adequate for 60%, sufficient for 24% and above for 13%.

Female candidacies broke a record in 2022, with 33.3% of registrations at the federal, state and district levels. Women represent 53% of the country’s electorate, which corresponds to 82 million voters, according to Agência Senado.

In 2009, the legislation ensured a minimum percentage of 30% and a maximum of 70% for candidates of each gender. In addition, it allocates at least 30% of the resources of the Party Fund and the Special Fund for Campaign Financing, as well as free electoral advertising time on radio and TV.

An obstacle, however, to the expansion of female participation in politics has been the occurrence of “orange” candidacies, just to meet quotas.

For Caio Magri, CEO of Instituto Ethos, while the participation of women and black people in politics is easier to measure, it is more difficult to measure this imbalance in private companies.

“In politics, the rules exist and it is necessary to avoid fraud. But few companies have internal diversity centers and policies built with correct self-declaration methodology. more optimistic than reality.”

He adds that the representation of women and black people in companies and in political positions should reflect the reality of the Brazilian population. “It should be the percentage representation of the demographics, the share of women and black people that we have in the job market.”

In addition to quotas and the policy of equal pay between men and women —also proposed by the government—, specialists reinforce the need to create local leaders to occupy spaces in companies and in the State.

“Racial and gender equity is also important, because the population is not represented in the institutions”, says Clarissa Malinverni, from the Movimento Gente à Frente, which discusses and elaborates public policies.

As an example of public policies that can help reverse this perception, she cites a decree signed by President Lula in March, which establishes a quota for black people in at least 30% of commissioned and trusted positions in the federal government.

Despite seeing recent advances in public policies, she reinforces the importance of states and municipalities committing to adopt affirmative measures, which can serve as examples for companies. “It is also necessary to increase transparency in data outside the federal orbit, so that we understand the size of the problem.”