In a speech published by the European Central Bank at the launch of Essenti'Elles Santé in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, President Christine Lagarde said women’s path to leadership narrows well before senior appointments and argued that organisations should change workplace structures rather than rely mainly on legal quotas or individual role models. Using healthcare as an example, she noted that women make up almost 80% of staff in France’s public hospitals but only around one-quarter of hospital directors. Lagarde identified two main barriers: work models that reward constant availability and the unequal allocation of low-visibility tasks that do little to support promotion. She pointed to ECB measures as examples of how organisations can respond, including core hours, up to ten consecutive days of remote work, limits on non-essential evening and weekend emails, and gender targets across analyst, expert, team-lead and senior management levels. Women now hold close to 40% of ECB senior management roles, up by more than eight percentage points since 2019, although some targets lower in the pipeline have not yet been met.
European Central Bank2026-06-04
European Central Bank President urges organisations to change work and promotion practices to widen women’s leadership pipeline
The European Central Bank published a speech by President Christine Lagarde arguing that organisations should redesign workplace structures to support women’s progression into leadership, rather than rely on legal quotas or individual role models. She highlighted barriers such as work models that reward constant availability and unequal allocation of low-visibility tasks, and cited ECB measures including core hours, extended remote work, limits on non-essential out-of-hours emails, and gender targets, which have helped lift women’s share of ECB senior management to close to 40%.