How to promote female empowerment
by Paola Profeta, Full Professor of Public Economics, Bocconi Dean for Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability
Why is it important to promote women's empowerment and female leadership? Many recent studies try to give an answer that goes beyond the motivations of equality and equal representation. In fact, these are also efficiency reasons. If women have the same levels of education, skills and talent as men, as is now known to happen in many fields in our societies, restricting decision-making positions to just the male gender does not guarantee the best possible selection. A virtuous process can begin if making room for qualified women means giving up less qualified men with the consequence that the inclusion of women executives increases the the probability of having leaders - men and women – who are on average more qualified.