by Kristina Tool
On June 24 PWA Milan in collaboration with Korn Ferry International presented the first in a series of “Women In” events. Bringing together top level executives in their respective fields, the objective of these events is to raise a discussion on how women have achieved their success and what can be done to increase the presence of women at the highest professional levels.
PWA hosted the event for the first time at the Grand Hotel et de Milan on Via Manzoni. The standing room only crowd included more than 150 professional women who came to listen to four panel members discuss women working in the male dominated field of finance.
Moderated by PWA president Monica Pesce, the panel was comprised of Giulia Belloni -Senior Client Partner, Korn Ferry International, Alessandra Perrazzelli – Head of international affairs, Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo, Monica Poggio – Head of Corporate Culture, Unicredit Group and representing the male point of view, Fabio L. Sattin – Chairman and Founding Partner, Private Equity Partners Spa. From the audience, Patrizia Micucci – Senior Partner, BI Invest and Mara Caverni – Partner, PWC, provided their point of view on investment banking and consulting.
The evening began with defining the current situation. Giulia Belloni shared statistics on the greatly disproportionate representation of female executives in the world of finance. Present at the top levels in only single digit percentages, women have a long distance to go before parity is achieved. Continued discussion reinforced that women in the upper levels of finance are few and far between and Italy ranks lower than many nations in the percentages of women who have achieved upper level positions.
Panelists presented thoughtful and frank responses based on their experiences of working both inside and outside of Italy. They gap between male and female workers is seen not only in the numbers of women present but in the lower compensation women receive. It was acknowledged that education and skill levels are not the problem; women who have risen to the top are clearly capable of meeting the high demands which a career in finance places on them, so what reasons remain to explain the situation?
Alessandra Perrazzelli noted a lack of female role models in the upper echelons of corporate executives, in addition to the lack of infrastructure provided to women with families. As the burden of family care still falls on the shoulders of women, (even those employed fulltime) those with families must rely on outside resources which allow them to be able to focus on work. Italy is especially lacking in providing this support.
Additional reasons could have more to do with self promotion skills. Monico Poggio commented on women needing to be better at first recognizing the value they bring and then doing more in expressing this value through self promotion. Fabio Sattin added that women are often less aggressive than men.
Discussion also focused on the Italian culture of viewing women in limited roles. Battling the stereotypes of being viewed only as mothers or the predominance the veline in the media and being judged on physical beauty alone, has made it even more challenging for those who aim towards the highest levels.
Monica Pesce continued to probe the panel on what can be done to bring more women to upper levels. Responses took an optimistic tone with the reminder that women have some power in influencing change. Women can demand more from their employers in terms of support, pay and promotions. They can do more to share their achievements and make their accomplishments known so that their true value is understood. Women can also support and encourage each other.
It was noted that the environment was showing signs of change and that companies have started to recognize the benefits of having more females present in decision making roles. The values of mentors was seen as a strong positive from the panelists view point and also from the perspective of many of the businesses, many of which have started to put programs into place to support and cultivate female leaders.
While there appeared to be a consensus towards most of the responses, audience members were quick to object to Fabio Sattin’s comment that women were more likely than men to need a structured framework in which to work and perhaps this was a difference between male and female success. Citing the multi-tasking skills which many females exhibit, the idea of a needing a framework was dismissed as a reason for the lack of women seen at the top.
With time running out, the audience was still able to share some ideas on bringing about equality, including PWA Vice president, Malin Carlberg putting forth a provocative question on Italy’s policy of parental leave for fathers.
Wrapping up at about 10PM, the event provided an opportunity for those in attendance to listen to first hand experiences from and about accomplished women in the financial workplace. Although the focus was on women in finance, many of the ideas shared could be applied to a variety of professions.
While the venue was crowded, we received much positive feedback on the presentation and we are looking forward to continuing the series on the fall of 2009 with the Women In Technology and Women In Fashion presentations.
