According to the Gender Diversity Index 2020 (GDI), which analyses gender representation on boards and executive positions of Europe’s largest companies, only three (25 percent) listed Portuguese companies (CTT, Jerónimo Martins and F. Ramadas Investimentos) have a female in a position of leadership. With a score of 0.44 in the Gender Diversity Index, which allows you to compare countries and companies, this score is 0.12 points below the European average and 0.30 points below the ranking of the top 45 countries.

Portugal has a lower-than-average score on almost all index indicators, with especially low scores for the percentage of women with executive management positions (14 percent) and women on committees (21 percent), more than 15 percent behind the country with the highest score. The study also mentions that none of the companies analysed in Portugal has a female executive director and that 6 percent of the companies have a woman on the Board of Directors.

Only three (25 percent) Portuguese companies - CTT, Jerónimo Martins and F. Ramadas Investimentos - have a gender diversity index higher than the average and four (33 percent) of companies have an index of less than 0.40. Two of the five largest companies in Portugal, Corticeira Amorim and Galp Energia, have an IDG that is lower than the average GDI at 0.04 and 0.05 points, respectively.

The company’s top rating in Portugal, CTT, also does not have women in the leadership of the Board of Directors, although they represent 60 percent of the management positions and the management committee.

The study concludes that by 2020, 28 percent of the leaders in executive and non-executive roles in the 668 companies analysed in Europe were women and that women represent only 34 percent of all board members in the European companies analysed.

The study, however, presents large disparities when observing each country individually. Listed companies in Norway, France, the UK, Finland and Sweden are closer to having a balanced leadership in gender diversity with women taking top management positions, while Poland and the Czech Republic are far from balanced in their leadership choices.