MVÜK Women’s Leadership Club: Gap-filling, non-representative research on female leadership

Based on the opinion of the 221 senior managers who completed the survey, female managers have to do more for recognition than their male counterparts, yet according to Eurostat data, they earn 17.3% less per hour in Hungary. In the last 3 years, the proportion of female managers in most companies has barely changed, even though 55% of the responding managers agree that the role of women in management brings concrete business benefits. 66% of women who completed an online survey agree with the statement that they need to do more to advance professionally than their male counterparts. There are still few female leadership models for them, so masculine traits often appear in their behavior.

Among other things, these were revealed in the incomplete, non-representative research conducted in October 2023, which assessed the strengths, challenges, competencies, areas to be developed, and stereotypes related to female leadership of small and medium-sized companies operating in Hungary. In the research, the Women’s Executive Club of MVÜK (Hungarian Business Managers’ Business Association) asked the managers of its member companies and – with the support of Hajnalka Csorbai, strategic director of OPTEN – the opinions of the managers of the companies in their database with an annual turnover of at least HUF 100 million. 221 senior managers answered the questions.