Women in the social economy: an essential group

Women are a key pillar of the social economy. In European Union countries such as Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal, their participation reaches 60%. In fact, in Spain this figure reaches 69%, according to data from the European Union (EU). 

There are several reasons for this importance of women in the social economy: the dominance of service companies, better conditions, supportive and caring motivations or less resistance to promotion. 

Additionally, a large percentage of social economy companies have the double condition of workers and owners as they are members of cooperatives, which affects the importance of the women in them.

Cooperatives are upheld by values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, fairness and solidarity, meaning that they offer women a chance to take on responsibilities and make an impact on their communities.

Better conditions and female leadership

The companies in the social economy have a community and solidarity-based motivation, with governance models that give priority to people over capital, which promotes the participation of all the groups, such as women, which can explain their greater presence in them. 

In addition, they can offer more flexible working conditions or shorter working hours, conditions that can adapt better to women’s working times as they find it difficult to balance their working and family lives. For example, in Spain, cooperatives and labour companies show greater levels of flexibility and work stability than other types of companies, as indicated in the report Beyond pink-collar jobs for women and the social economy carried out by the OECD. 

Women in medicine

The importance of women in the medical profession has been increasing. This has been shown by the study The Spanish university in figures (La universidad española en cifras) published by CRUE Universidades, which indicates that 72.4% of the new students for Medicine in 2023 were women.

This student data confirms a trend that has been growing in recent years and that can already be seen in clinics and hospitals. According to data from the Spanish National Statistics Institute INE) seven out of every ten new members of professional medical associations are women. 

Women started to gain ground in the healthcare professions in the 1990s when a growth of around 5% occurred, meaning that already back in 1995 there were 61.8% of female students enrolled in the faculties of medicine.