From pink quotas to blue quotas. In a job market where gender equality is still a utopia, there is a sector that represents a unique example: in a landscape dominated by men, the school belongs to women. The vast majority of teachers and managers are in fact female, with percentages so high as to push those at the top to launch blue quotas. It seems like a paradox but it isn't: the next competition for managers scheduled for the next few months will provide a preferential lane for men in order to attempt a difficult rebalancing.
The blue quotas in the competition for managers
Article 10 of the draft notice for the competition for school leaders provides that: "considering the percentages of gender representation in each region, gender balance is guaranteed by applying in the regions of Abruzzo, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, Marche, Piedmont, Puglia, Sicily, Tuscany, Umbria and Veneto, in which the gender gap is more than 30 percent, the title of preference in favor of the male gender as it is less represented".
Simply put, in almost all Italian regions, in the event of a tie in scores, the male candidate will be hired. They are exceptions Sardinia, where the imbalance is lower than in other Regions, and the Aosta Valley and Molise, where there are no managerial positions available.
Many will ask: “can it be done?”. The answer is Yes. A decree issued in June has in fact introduced the rules for gender rebalancing in public administration. A provision that allows the application of both the pink quotas and the, unusual, blue quotas.
Fewer and fewer men in school
At the moment the percentages are as follows: among the teachers, 83% are women, a percentage that even reaches 95% in primary school. Among school heads, however, in 2000 there were two out of three men, but the last three competitions have turned the tables, making the situation once again the balance in favor of women.
