Women Hold 30% of Franchise Management Positions in Spain

The Spanish Franchise Association (Asociación Española de la Franquicia, or AEF) has prepared, with the collaboration of Banco Sabadell, the 2nd edition of the study, “Women in Franchising: Spain 2023.” The objective of the study was to determine the degree of presence of women in management and senior management positions, both in franchising companies and in networks of franchised establishments.

The comparison between the data obtained in the first study (2021) and the current one gives us a clearly positive vision of the evolution followed in these 2 years, also considering that this was a particularly sensitive period because of the Covid-19 pandemic and other significant events.

Based on the data obtained, the study established that among the 1,306 companies in the study, there were 9,233 members of their management committees, 2,853 of whom were women, equivalent to nearly 1 in 3 (30.9%).

When evaluating the data from this second study, AEF President Luisa Masuet said, “In the 2 years since we presented the first report, we have been able to verify that there has been an increase in the presence of women in management positions of franchise networks, as well as an increase in the number of women who have chosen to open franchised businesses. These findings reflect a significant evolution regarding the growing role that women are acquiring in the Spanish franchise system.”

The new study also considers the presence of women in the management of franchising companies. The main observations include:

• Women occupy 30.9% of the current management positions in franchising in Spain, up from 21.82% in 2021.
• 69.6% of franchising companies have a woman in their management bodies, up from 67.5% in 2021; looking at it another way, 30.4% of franchise companies in Spain still do not have female managers, compared with 32.5% in 2021.
• In the 660 companies that operate in the five main sectors of Spanish franchising, (Food, Beauty/Aesthetics, Hospitality, Fashion, and Services), women occupy 38.33% of management positions, compared with 34.80% in 2021.

Management positions held by women

The study found management positions most held by women in the national franchise system were:

18.1% Marketing Management (516)

17.7% Human Resources Department (505)

10.1% CEO/General Management (288)

8.8% Communication Department (251)

8.0% Corporate Controller (229)

The first three positions (Marketing, Human Resources, and CEO/General Management) account for 46% of women's participation in management roles.

The positions in which women had the least presence were:

0.4% Administration Directorate (12)

0.4% Construction Management (11)

0.5% Digital Management (14)

0.8% Quality Management (23)

0.8% Purchasing Management (23)

Women franchisees by number and by sector

According to the data from the latest report, franchisors operate about 1 in 4 (27%) of their total establishments; the remaining 73% (56,247) are owned by their franchisees. Based on these figures, the study indicates that the total number of female franchisees is 18,709, which represents 1 in 3 (33.26%) of all franchisees.

Looking at the data by sector, the five listed below account for 58.1% of the total, while the next five cover 23.7% and, finally, those in “other sectors” reach 18.2%. The presence of women franchisees in the five main sectors of activity were:

15.06% Beauty/Aesthetics (2,815)

13.79% Hospitality (2,580)

13.08% Food (2,448)

9.76% Fashion (1,826)

6.37% Services (1,191)

Women franchisees by autonomous communities

Finally, and in relation to the autonomous communities in which the most female franchisees operate, the data is conclusive: 81.52% represents a growth of 7.64 points compared with the 2021 study, and are concentrated in four communities: Madrid, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, and Andalusia, which represent 59.39% of the Spanish population.

In Madrid, the number of female franchisees was 6,417 (34.29%). Catalonia was next with 5,847 (31.26%), followed by the Valencian Community with 1,630 (8.71%), and Andalusia, with 1,359 (7.26%).

Franchising compared with other business modalities

The data from the new report on the presence of females in the management of franchise companies was compared with findings from other entities or organizations that carry out research on gender equality at work.

The two studies that served as a reference for this comparison were: 1) the “Wage gap and presence of women in management positions 2023” by ICSA Grupo and EADA Business School, and 2) “Women in Business 2023” by the consulting firm Grant Thornton.

The data from the ICSA-EADA report refer to a database of large, medium, and small companies, both commercial and industrial. They show that the percentage of female participation in management positions is higher in this type of company than in franchises in the HR and Administration and Finance departments; equal in Commercial Management at 7.6%; and higher in the CEO/General Management role at 10.1% in franchising companies, compared with 8.8% in other types of companies.

The “Women in Business 2023” study, based on 5,000 interviews and surveys carried out in 28 countries, analyzes the data provided by companies with between 50 and 500 employees. This report showed that women occupy 32% of management positions globally, 38% in all of Spain, and 30% in the Spanish franchise system.

AEF Executive Director Eduardo Abadía said, “We progressively observe that women have an increasing presence in the management positions of franchising companies, especially in the marketing departments, human resources, and in the general management itself, and that there also are more women who decide to be entrepreneurs, opting to open and manage businesses under a franchise regime.”

Inmaculada Núñez, Director of Sabadell Franchises Banco Sabadell, which collaborated in this study, said, “For Banco Sabadell, pursuing equality is a fundamental commitment. We have various actions under way to promote diversity in the entity and in the board of directors. Step by step, the balance is balanced so that it is a living reflection of the people, women and men, who are Sabadell. We are proud to sponsor this initiative and trust that the positive evolution will be maintained and that we will achieve a balance in the franchise system.”

From my point of view, the franchise sector is beginning to understand that the attitude and personal qualities of women are very specific to the characteristics of the franchise scheme.

Want to know more? A video recording of the presentations (en español) is available online.

Andrea Lazzari is CEO of the 06 Group. Based in Madrid, he is recognized as an expert in franchising and tourism in Spain. His three decades of knowledge and experience with national and international companies and brands include positions in management, development, expansion, and marketing in several sectors of the economy. To learn more about franchising in Spain, contact him at +34 658771226 or andrea@06group.es.