Numerus apertus: why one woman is not enough
We don’t always grasp the rationale behind quotas until we hear women managers talking about their experience of being in the minority.
The term “quota” is often equated with “merit”. And it is often said that a quota is the exact opposite of merit. When talking about quotas, what remains unsaid is the meaning of the number. We think a quota is arbitrary; that 50 could just as well be 30 or 60; that it’s just been decided like that.
But when you’re alone in a group of friends who are strangers to you, it’s hard to be yourself. And, in the best scenario, you end up trying to be like them, adopting their codes and humour, trying to understand their jokes and laughing at them like everyone else.
THE CRITICAL THRESHOLD
Now look back at the women in power you found too “masculine”; think of Margaret Thatcher, dubbed “the Iron Lady”, and listen to Stephanie Chasserio, Professor of Management and researcher at SKEMA Business School: “We tend to see it as an element of domination and submission to masculine social norms dictated by the environment,” she says in the “Makes Sense?” podcast. “But we could also say that it’s a sign of extreme intelligence and adaptability to the environment. To break into male-dominated environments where women are a tiny minority, or even non-existent, you have little choice but to adopt the rules of the dominant game.”
Delphine Henry, President of ENGIE My Power and Deputy CEO of ENGIE Home Services, feels the same way: “In the Management Committee, we are still such a minority that we still have to put up with sexist remarks and gender biases. We haven’t yet reached the critical threshold in terms of representation that would help us to change people’s attitudes.”
Joanne Kennedy has even observed that women behave differently depending on their numbers. “In my experience, when there’s only one woman in a management team, she sometimes tends to behave ‘like a man’. If there two women, conflict can blow up between them. But if there are three women, they show solidarity with each other. And when there are four or more, their personalities start to emerge.”
Associate CEO of Oasys Dirigeants Karine Lair has coached numerous female managers and sometimes heard a paradoxical view: “Some said they were glad to be the only woman on the Executive or Management Committee in this male world. It made them feel special, and they felt they were heard.”
“Some boards of directors are very proud to say that they have a woman or two with them,” says Stephanie Chasserio in the SKEMA podcast. “But it takes at least a 30% representation of a minority for the rules of the dominant group to change. Below that level, it’s very difficult; you can’t change the rules all on your own.”