Necessity for Rapid Implementation and Specific Evaluation in the IC Sector – Recommendations for Advancing D&I

When it comes to the glass ceiling issue, Switzerland continues to lag behind most OECD countries, ranking near the bottom alongside Turkey, according to the latest 2025 data published by The Economist.

30 April 2025
Diversity and inclusion
Colorful painting of a couple dancing mid-air.

Author

Smiling woman in white jacket and green scarf indoors.
Irenka
 
Krone-Germann
cinfo
Condirettrice

As the survey highlights, the representation of women in managerial roles in Switzerland remains below the OECD average. Women currently occupy just 35.4% of board seats. In addition, despite over two decades of advocacy for more affordable childcare, net childcare costs remain extremely high—amounting to 46% of the average wage (The Economist, February 2025).

The trend indicates that, although many of the factors contributing to gender discrimination in the labor market are well known, they remain deeply entrenched (e.g., high childcare costs, inefficient use of part-time work). Traditional norms and social conditioning, combined with a lack of proactive policies to address these concrete issues, help explain the stagnation Switzerland continues to face in advancing gender equality. 

Barriers to progress: examining the role of bias in leadership representation

Conscious excluders, who despite various corporate interventions, continue to treat some folks differently due to their social group membership, may also help explain the recent stagnation in progress toward gender equality in organisational leadership, see What to do about employees who consciously exclude women?. These few often highly influential people may help explain the recent stagnation in progress toward gender equality in organisational leadership. In fact, a study of 90 companies and more than 320,000 employees in Switzerland showed that the share of women in leadership positions only increased 1% over the last five years. But this trend is not specific to Switzerland; it’s echoed in statistics across the globe. 

“Unconscious bias” and “inclusive leadership” have become diversity buzzwords. This makes sense given recent research highlighting how related training—when facilitated and implemented properly—are key ingredients for cultivating and sustaining a diverse and inclusive and gender-mixed workforce. 

Recommendations

In the IC area, specific measures regarding gender aspects should be stronger implemented, such as: 

  • Anchoring diversity in concepts and in controlling
  • Working models (flexible working hours, job and top sharing, etc.) and the possibility of part-time work
  • Company daycare centers and/or financial support for private solutions
  • Duration of maternity and paternity leave
  • Measures for the targeted advancement of women, such as the existence of quotas for women in management and executive positions. 

Organisations are well aware of the challenges related to diversity and inclusion. However, in the international cooperation (IC) sector, they emphasise that measures adopted in Switzerland cannot always be directly applied to fragile work environments, such as those in humanitarian contexts, where high staff commitment and flexibility are essential. As such, it is crucial to consider the specific context when implementing initiatives like workplace flexibilisation. Introducing diversity and inclusion measures in these settings is inherently more complex. 

In the IC sector, cinfo encourages international cooperation organisations to analyse the implementation of flexible models in various contextual situations and develop new types of tailor-made jobs to support the transfer of the knowledge needed in the sector. 

Compensation for the loss of knowledge due to the gradual departure of the "baby-boomer" generation could be resolved if retirees could work temporarily in job-sharing positions with younger people. Another possibility would be to have Swiss and foreign experts work in pairs at the same level of responsibility. This would ensure greater gender, age, and nationality diversity. 

The journey towards true equality and inclusion is still fraught with challenges, but the recommendations shared here offer a crucial starting point for tangible actions. Particularly within the international cooperation sector, the need for continued commitment and perseverance is clear. As the landscape evolves, inclusion must become not just a goal, but a foundational element of our future. 

Bibliography 

See more articles on this topic