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“(Girl) Boss” and gender equality: on the relevance of female CEOs



          “(Girl) Boss” and gender equality: on the relevance of female CEOs                                                          

 

By: Joana Capaz Coelho



In 2017, Netflix released a series called “Girl Boss”. Broadly speaking, the series is based on Sophia Amoruso´s autobiography, titled #Girl Boss.

Sophia Amoruso is an American businesswoman of Portuguese, Greek, and Italian descent who 2006 founded Nasty Gal [1] – a company whose initial purpose was to resell second-hand vintage clothes. However, step by step, Amoruso created an empire.

According to that Netflix series, the first piece to be sold on Nasty Gal would have been a “biker-style” jacket that Sophia had bought for US$ 9 and resold, on eBay, for around US$ 600.

It is not known precisely whether these facts are entirely reality or fiction, but one thing is certain:  10 years after the creation of the Nasty Gal company, Forbes named Sophia Amoruso one of the “Richest Self-Made Women in the world” with a fortune of approximately US$ 280 M. In addition, she was also awarded the title of “Tech Princess” by The New York Times in 2016.

Amoruso took over as CEO of Nasty Gal between 2006 and 2015. Later, Sophia Amoruso founded “Girl Boss Media” in 2017, and in 2020, she founded the “Business Class” project, of which she is the current CEO. Throughout her career, Sophia Amoruso has been a Girl Boss, that is, an independent, capable, confident, strong and determined woman who fights for her goals, having consequently become one of the best-known CEOs in the business world.

But does it still make sense, nowadays, to use the designation “Girl Boss”? In this regard, it seems fundamental to discuss the problem of gender (un) equality in access to top positions, including CEO of companies.

According to the seventh edition of Deloitte´s global study entitled “Women on the Board”: “Today, we report a global average of just under 20% (19.7%) [2]of board seats held by women, an increase of just 2.8 percentage points since our last report, published in 2019. If this rate of change were to continue every two years, we could expect to reach something near parity in 2045”  [3].

If this growth perspective continues, it will take us at least 23 years to achieve gender equality about the presence of women and men on the boards of directors. But isn’t that too long?

The problem intensifies when it comes to access to the position of CEO. It follows, in fact, from the same study that: “The report reveals that companies with women CEOs have, on average, significantly more gender-balanced boards than those led by men: 33.5% women vs. 19.4%, respectively. However, globally, women hold only 5% [4]  of CEO positions” [5].

Thus, the case of Sophia Amuroso, as a woman and CEO of multiple companies was and still is, unfortunately, something exception on an international level.

And at the national level (Portugal), what percentage of women currently hold top positions in companies?

According to Pordata [6], the percentage of women on boards of directors in 2021 was 31,00% whereas in 2003, the percentage was 3,5%. Despite the significant increase in the number of women on boards of directors, the truth is that the number is still far below the target of 50,00%.

If we look at the percentage of women executives in 2021 it is 16,3%, and, again below 50,00%.

At the European Union level, the percentage of women on the boards of directors in 2021 is 30,6%, and of executive women 20,2%, which also means that gender equality in access to top positions in listed companies in the E.U has not yet been achieved.

The E.U countries closest to reaching the ideal percentage of 50,00% for women on boards are Iceland at 47,1%, France at 45,3%, and finally Norway at 41,5%.

On the other hand, the E.U countries that are furthest from reaching the ideal percentage of 50,00% as regards the presence of women on boards of directors are Cyprus at 8,5%, Estonia at 9,1%, and Hungry at 9,4%.

Regarding the percentage of women executives, the E.U countries that are closest to achieving the 50,00% target are Romania at 31,6%, Estonia at 31,1%, and Iceland at 31,00%. The E.U countries furthest from reaching 50,00% are Luxemburg with 4,1% and Austria with 5,7%, as shown in the table below.

In this context, it is still worth recalling that according to Article 23.º of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union: “Equality between men and women must be ensured in all areas, including employment, work, and pay (…)”.


It follows, moreover, from The Forbes Article “The end of the Girl Boss Era – The End of an Era? [7]  and quoting Kristin Syrett that: “As soon as you modify something like “boss” – and you don´t have “Boy boss” or “Male boss” – it really does make it incredibly salient that we are still, as women, fighting against [an image] that was not shaped by us. It´s reminding everyone that there is a style of being a boss. And no matter how hard you work, you´re still a girl – you´re a girl in a man´s world”.

If on the one hand, it is true that the term Girl Boss may, nowadays, no longer adhere to reality, it is also true that access to top positions in companies is still not being carried out in an equal and fair way. Equality in access to these positions should be something natural, however, it still isn´t.

It is indeed justifiable to keep asking ourselves whether it will ever really stop being like this, or when it will be like this, but above all to keep taking action so that it stops being like this!

Suggested citation: J. C. Coelho, "“(Girl) Boss” and gender equality: on the relevance of female CEOs", 19th June, 19 July 2022.

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