Last update: 08/03/2022
No sector of our society can be understood without gender equality. Therefore, companies and institutions focus on gender diversity as a key factor within our reason for being. At Santander, we are working to achieve equal opportunities both within and outside our organisation; and to celebrate International Women’s Day, we have signed up to the #BreakTheBias global campaign.
On the road to diverse equality, we are all important
All together in building a more balanced future
We should never shy away from bringing backgrounds, skills and perspectives that complement one another helping us be more creative and fresher in the solutions we create, and gender diversity is a key part of overall diversity goals”
I’m convinced that not having a diverse and inclusive workplace is not an option anymore
With the aim of achieving effective equality, we have publicly committed to achieve several targets by 2025. One of these commitments was to have female representation on the board of between 40% and 60% by 2021; we achieved that and we still maintain it, with 40%, which is well above the average in large listed companies in both Spain and Europe. Moreover, we have also proposed to reach 30% of women in senior management (currently 26.3%). According to data from the consultancy Grant Thornton in its “Women in business 2021” report, worldwide, 31% of management team members are women, compared to 29% in 2019.
In addition, as a responsible bank, we have a strategic plan on diversity, equity and inclusion, from which various programmes arise to promote equality among our employees in the countries in which we operate. These initiatives are designed to promote a work-life balance, recruitment, professional development, equal pay and to raise awareness. We also form part of other projects such as the gender equality accelerator programme of the UN Global Compact.
Our commitment to gender equality places us among the top 10 most advanced companies (the first bank) in the world in this regard according to the 2022 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index.
Initiatives to promote equality
Santander supports many projects worldwide for female entrepreneurs, in order to promote female talent and leadership. Around 5,500 employees from ten countries are already part of our Santander Women Network. Male presence has increased by 140% at the corporate centre alone. This network is also being created in seven other geographies.
Therefore, the support from our business areas is essential for building an organisation where equality is not an objective, but a reality. For example: