Gender inequality in the workplace: a comparative analysis of Italian companies through the definition of composite indicators

Corporate disclosures on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) positions allow analysts and investors to make more accurate assessments of their exposure to risks arising from these factors and their long-term profitability. Gender diversity is an important component of corporate sustainability strategy and deserves to be properly managed and communicated to the public. Directive EU/2014/95 (Non-Financial Reporting Directive, NFRD), implemented in Italy with Legislative Decree 30 December 2016, n. 254, introduced the obligation for public interest entities to prepare non-financial statements (NFS) on environmental and social sustainability; for the social profile, there is information on personnel management, including actions taken to ensure gender equality rather than respect for the worker himself. However, the current regulatory framework still allows companies to have flexibility in publishing these topics. As a result, the company’s approach to these important topics is not always clear and immediate [1]. The aim of this work is to analyse, with respect to the topic of gender difference, the level of transparency of Italian companies in two driving sectors of the Italian economic context: manufacturing and food and beverage in the years 2019, 2021 and 2023. The study, after an initial phase of text mining of both a qualitative and quantitative nature, will move on to the construction of the 4 different indicators, through a non-compensatory approach. This will allow for documented comparisons between the two product sectors and will also allow us to understand whether, over time, companies have implemented practices that are increasingly closer to the required standards.