Are women promoted as quickly as men?

The first women to work at the Banco de España were employed in positions created exclusively for women (as cleaners or banknote handlers¹). It was not until the Spanish Civil War, when men had to leave for the front, that women began to take on jobs that had previously been reserved for men.

In the first mixed recruitment of assistants in 1941, women faced an additional requirement besides the general ones: they had to be single or heads of household. In fact, when a woman got married, she would be placed forcibly on leave and given a “marriage gratuity” as compensation.

These circumstances were a reflection of society at that time. They seem surprising to us today because this kind of discrimination fortunately no longer takes place. But is there really no discrimination? Are men and women represented equally in all roles? Are promotion prospects the same?

Margarita Machelett, an economist specialising in gender economics, discrimination and financial literacy, explains that Nobel Prize winner Claudia Goldin draws a distinction between “greedy work”, which makes stringent demands in terms of hours and response times, and “flexible work”, which requires the same number of working hours, but allows for greater flexibility and, therefore, better work-life balance.

Traditionally, the most demanding jobs that make it harder to achieve a work-life balance have been held by men, while more flexible jobs have been chosen by women – choices that are reflected in salaries and promotions. In addition, women are less likely to compete for promotion, affecting their career progression relative to men.

Technological progress and equal employment conditions for mothers and fathers have, among other factors, helped to smooth out differences between job types, but there is still a long way to go from an educational and social standpoint, as women have less confidence in themselves then men for certain roles.

We do not need to look all the way back to the early 20th century to see how the Banco de España and society at large have changed. Lucía Arranz, Director of the Legal Department, and Irene Cancelas, a specialist in the Complaint Division, joined the Bank in this century, although twenty years apart. We sat down together to discuss the impact of changes in our day-to-day work.