- Women reinvent themselves more in the sector they already work in, taking on different functions, while men reinvent themselves more by launching an entrepreneurial venture.
- Female entrepreneurs tend to focus on sectors like Consultancy/Auditing and Healthcare.
- Hospitality and Tourism (6.02%) is the sector that most women leave to reinvent themselves in the Consultancy (7.28%) and Public Administration sectors (3.61).
- Women tend to launch entrepreneurial ventures in sectors such as Consultancy/Auditing, Healthcare, Leisure, Cultural and Sports Activities, Sales and Food and Beverages, while men focus more on sectors like Construction, Industry, Engineering and the Environment.
- With respect to the reasons that women reinvent themselves, many chose the Others option, which includes a crisis generated by Covid 19, at 29.71%, and taking a sabbatical period to learn a new discipline.
The White Paper on Professional Reinvention published by EAE Business School reveals that technology is the sector with the highest demand for human capital but, in contrast, training in this field accounts for just 7.9% of men and 4.10% of women. “This statistic runs contrary to the needs of the market. When professionals reinvent themselves, it is important for them to analyse which sectors are growing and generating a greater number of opportunities to ensure the highest chance of success”, explained Pilar Llácer, the author of the White Paper and Head of Research at EAE Business School’s Work of the Future Centre.
Taking studies in Engineering is also much higher among men, at 10.8%, than women, at 2.21%. Likewise, there is a notable gap of almost 8 percentage points between women and men in terms of opting for studies related to the digital sphere (16.38% for men and 8.59% for women). “Women tend to focus on studies for the professions in the highest demand”, explained Llácer.
When reinventing themselves, women focus more on the sector that they already work in, taking on different functions, while men reinvent themselves more as entrepreneurs.
“In the world of work, three things are certain: firstly, it is digital transformation that will generate employment and ensure the survival of both large and small businesses; secondly, we were unprepared for sudden changes in employment; and thirdly, perhaps worst of all, we lacked leaders who were adequately prepared to navigate a perfect storm without a compass”, concluded the Head of Research at EAE Business School’s Work of the Future Centre.
OPTION 1 FOR REINVENTION: CHANGING SECTOR WITH THE SAME FUNCTIONS
With respect to the option of reinvention by changing sector but continuing with the same functions, the sectors in which women tend to reinvent themselves most are Mass Market (13%) and Food and Beverages, and Energy/Electricity (both 6.57%). In contrast, hardly any women move to the Industrial, Sales, Electronic Commerce, Construction and Metals sectors, according to the report. Llácer emphasized that, to break this trend, we need to change our educational and cultural model to eliminate the gender biases that still persist in certain sectors.
OPTION 2 FOR REINVENTION: CHANGING SECTOR WITH DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS
In the case of the option of reinvention by changing sector and taking on new functions, the Hospitality/Tourism/Restaurant (10.84%) and Consultancy/Auditing sectors (8.43%) are losing the largest percentage of professionals changing both their sector and their functions. With respect to restaurants, there is a significant frictional component. More women have left the Hospitality/Tourism/Restaurant sector (6.02%) than men (4.82%) to reinvent themselves with different functions in sectors such as Consultancy (7.28%) and Public Administration (3.61).
The sector that most men leave is Industry (6.02%), compared to just 1.20% in the case of women. Men tend to reinvent themselves in the position of Manager (9.64%) and strategic consultant (6.02%), while women tend to focus more on staff management (4.82%).
OPTION 3 FOR REINVENTION: SAME SECTOR, DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS
Reinvention in the same sector with different functions occurs in the case of men, in the Operations and Engineering sectors, with 11.11%, respectively, and Sales, with 9.09%. In contrast, women work in Human Resources (9.09%) and Operations (8.08%), as the department of origin. The positions in which women tend to reinvent themselves include Quality Technician, Internal Communication, Procurement Technician and Logistics Technician, while men tend to move to positions such as Business Development Manager, Operations Supervisor, General Director and Data Science Technician.
OPTION 4 FOR REINVENTION: ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Lastly, in terms of entrepreneurial projects, women tend to launch ventures in sectors such as Consultancy/Auditing and Healthcare, Leisure, Cultural and Sports Activities, Sales, and Food and Beverages, while men focus more on sectors such as Construction, Industry, Engineering and the Environment.
With respect to the reasons why women reinvent themselves, many chose the Others option, which includes a crisis generated by Covid 19, at 29.71%, and taking a sabbatical period to learn a new discipline, at 14.49%. The Investor variable was only selected by men.