ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the situation of women in management in the French context and the glass ceiling they come up against. In France as elsewhere, the sheer number of women entering higher education has eliminated gender inequalities in terms of careers for women in management and accessibility to the highest ranks in business and organizational hierarchies. The legal and institutional framework of equal opportunities in the professional sphere in France are then outlined, followed by the social partners' and companies' initiatives concerning the situation of women in management. The vast majority of firms simply reported the percentage of women in the workforce, and 60 percent compared this indicator with the percentage of women in management. Career development policies are thus becoming more “gender-neutral” and more likely to foster equal opportunities for men and women by providing more objective bases for decisions on compensation and promotion.
