March 8, the end of the 'first times': the warning from Laura Mattarella and the optical illusion of equality in Italy

“True equality will only come when seeing a woman at the top is no longer news.” This was stated by Laura Mattarella, the daughter of the President of the Republic, who, on the occasion of March 8, invites the country to stop celebrating the exception and to face reality.

As long as every “first woman” in a top role continues to earn headlines in bold letters, it will mean that normality remains stubbornly male.

The words of the “first daughter” capture a typically Italian paradox: we have built norms and gender quotas that ensure formal equality, but substantial equality remains a mirage.

Gender quotas have opened up boards of directors, bringing female representation to around 43% in listed companies.

A significant advancement, which, however, stops at the threshold of command. Effective executive power remains firmly in male hands: according to the latest Consob report of 2025, female CEOs are just 2.2% and chairwomen 3.5%. The glass ceiling has risen, but it has not collapsed.

Laura Mattarella's warning also touches on another structural issue: the burden of motherhood and caregiving.

In Italy, women's professional paths are often interrupted by involuntary part-time work, scarcity of services, and an equitable distribution of family responsibilities that is still far off.

This results in a sneaky wage gap: although the “official” hourly gender pay gap seems contained (5.6% in 2022), it is an optical illusion.

Among graduates, the gap exceeds 16%, and among executives, it surpasses 30%.

The national average does not take into account fewer hours worked in the year, career interruptions, and the concentration of female employment in low-paying sectors.

In high-profit sectors, moreover, evaluation systems continue to reward availability of time and relational networks, systematically penalizing female workers.

However, a glimmer of hope is on the horizon. The European Directive on pay transparency, to be implemented by June 2026, promises to dismantle wage opacity by imposing on companies the disclosure of evaluation criteria and salary ranges.

But rules alone are not enough. As the Global Gender Gap Report reminds us, which ranks Italy 87th in the world, a cultural paradigm shift is needed.

The goal indicated by Laura Mattarella is the compass for the coming years: to transform the exception into normality, ensuring a real “verticality” of power. Only then will equality cease to be front-page news and become a silent norm.