The Gender Intelligence ReportExternal link from the University of St Gallen found that 17% of top management posts are held by women and 23% of middle management positions. Researchers analysed 320,000 employees in 90 Swiss companies.
“If we continue at the current rate, gender parity might become a reality two to three generations from now. Can we really afford to wait until 2078 and lose out on the tens of thousands of highly qualified women that get sieved out?,” the report asks.
Not only are women winning fewer promotions at higher levels of management but they also have a higher turnover rate within firms than male counterparts.
One of the biggest factors of gender discrimination is the decision of women to start families.
“We can see that the proportion of women in the lowest management levels has increased in recent years, but there is simply not much going on at the top,” report leader Ines Hartmann told Swiss public broadcaster SRF.
“First of all, it is assumed that women will have children at some point. This partially prevents employment in higher positions.”
Hartmann urged companies to open up career paths for women by recognizing that “parenting is a normal part of a career – for women as well as men.”
Popular Stories
More
Multinational companies
Azeri fossil-fuel cash cow brings controversy to Switzerland
Chimpanzee behaviours passed down through generations
This content was published on
Some of the complex behaviours of chimpanzees have been passed down and refined over generations. These include the combination of several tools for foraging.
More than 600,000 rounds of Swiss sniper ammunition reach Ukraine
This content was published on
Sniper ammunition from Swiss P Defence reached Ukraine via a Polish company in July 2023, reported SRF Investigativ on Thursday, citing official information.
Environment minister outlines Swiss efforts to limit global warming
This content was published on
Switzerland will do its part to achieve the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celcius, said Environment Minister Albert Rösti, who's attending COP29 in Baku.
This content was published on
Switzerland remains by a large margin the European champion of train travel, both in terms of the number of journeys per person and the number of kilometres travelled. Switzerland remains by a large margin the European champion of train travel, both in terms of the number of journeys per person and the number of kilometres travelled. Switzerland remains by a large margin the European champion of train travel, both in terms of the number of journeys per person and the number of kilometres travelled.
Swiss price watchdog slams excessive prices for generic medicines
This content was published on
The cheapest generic medicines available in Switzerland are more than twice as expensive as in other countries, according to a study by the Swiss price watchdog.
Nature should not figure in net zero calculations: academic study
This content was published on
The natural removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by forests or oceans should not be included in the net-zero balance of climate protection measures, argue researchers.
This content was published on
None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.
Parliament approves quotas for women on company boards
This content was published on
The Swiss parliament has approved a proposal calling for better representation of women at the top echelons of large publicly-traded companies.
Big firms required to publish gender pay gap in 2021
This content was published on
Large companies in Switzerland will have to analyse wages of men and women starting in 2020 and make the audited results available to staff in 2021.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.