ATHENS — The percentage of women in senior management positions in Greece exceeds 33 pct while, according to the global survey of Grant Thornton "Women in Business: A window of opportunity", the percentage of women in senior management positions in companies worldwide is 31 pct.

According to the survey, the fact that the percentage of women in senior management positions worldwide has increased to 31 pct is encouraging, given that the previous two years (2019 and 2020) it had remained unchanged at 29 pct. At the same time, the percentage exceeded the 30 pct mark, which, according to surveys, is considered the minimum representation required to make a change in the business decision-making process. It is noted that the corresponding percentage in Greece was above the global average, and specifically at 33 pct, compared to 24 pct last year.

According to the survey, in Greece, the percentage of women in senior management positions recorded a "jump" by nine percentage points in 2021, to 33 pct compared to 24 pct in 2020. At the same time, the percentage of companies that do not employ any a women in a senior management position fell to 13 pct from 24 pct the previous year. On the other hand, the fact that, while the percentage of companies in Greece that do not take steps to improve equal opportunities for both sexes in senior management positions has fallen to 53 pct in 2020 compared to 62 pct in 2019, it remains, in general, much higher than the world average (18 pct).

At the same time, Greek companies report that the actions they implement to improve gender equality are: the creation of an inclusive culture (24 pct), the possibility of flexible work (19 pct), training programmes and coaching (19 pct) and ensuring access to business opportunities (17 pct). At the same time, almost half of Greek companies (47 pct) agree that in their organisation, the new work practices that emerged as a result of Covid-19 will benefit the career path of women in the long run, while 30 pct maintain a neutral attitude towards issue. Finally, about one in four companies (24 pct) agree that the new work practices that have emerged as a result of the pandemic have helped women play a more important role in leadership positions.