Women executives: Italy lags behind Europe, but something is moving

The study begins with an open question: why do women still so rarely reach top corporate positions, despite years of laws and initiatives promoting gender equality? 

After the Golfo-Mosca Law, which transformed boards of directors, attention has now shifted to executive roles, where what matters are not only rules, but culture and organizational practices. The international comparison clarifies the picture: France is the most advanced country (32% of women executives), thanks to a coherent legal framework and a deeply rooted culture of inclusion; Germany (23%) struggles to fully capitalize on its legislative efforts; Belgium (24%) maintains a fair balance within a smaller sample; and Italy, at 18%, still lags behind, although showing slight progress compared to the first edition of the Observatory. 

The goal of the research is to understand which institutional, cultural, and organizational factors can unlock the shift from formal equality to substantive equality.

The research analyzed 5,376 executives from 647 listed companies (168 in Italy) across four European countries. The year-on-year comparison, limited to Italy, involved 320 firms, both listed and unlisted. 

Findings include: 

• In Italy, women represent 18% of executives (17% among listed companies), a slight increase from the previous year. 

• Only 7% of Italian firms have a female CEO, a figure that remains unchanged. 

• Women are still concentrated in staff functions (75%) and remain marginal in business areas (25%); the only consolation is that a similar or even greater gap is observed in other countries. 

• A generational shift is underway: Generation X and Millennials are increasingly represented among women executives. 

One of the most interesting results concerns the role of Nomination Committees. The study shows that female presence in these bodies significantly increases the likelihood of women being appointed to senior roles: in France, each additional woman on the committee raises the probability of another woman being appointed to an executive position by 12.4%. In Italy, the positive effect of female presence on nomination committees has become stronger since the Golfo-Mosca Law. 

Finally, qualitative interviews with HR directors and top managers reveal a two-speed picture: on one side, persistent cultural resistance (skepticism toward quotas, self-exclusion among women, lack of female profiles in technical fields); on the other, more mature corporate practices that are gradually changing organizational culture. Among these: 

• The introduction of gender KPIs in incentive systems. 

• Mentorship and female empowerment programs. 

• Monitoring of the gender pay gap and balanced shortlists in recruitment. 

• Flexibility and parental leave policies designed for family equity.

If organizations that embrace plural leadership achieve better results in terms of innovation, risk management, and adaptability, the challenge is to support cultural change through targeted tools: incentives for virtuous companies, female-oriented STEM pathways, and dedicated training and internationalization programs. 

For managers and boards, an operational message emerges: gender diversity must become a strategic objective, on par with sustainability and digital transformation. 

Italy remains behind, but a window has opened. Now it’s time to accelerate—both for reasons of fairness and to reap the benefits of balanced gender representation. 

Read the article on the first edition of the Osservatorio Donne Executive: 

Minichilli, D’Angelo, Corbella - Executives in Italy: Only one in six is a woman.