Culture and Society: Women in Business

There has been a steady increase in female participation in the Mexican economy into the 21st century.

Mexico has a growing number of women entrepreneurs.

General View

The Mexican government has made progress in eliminating gender disparities in business and the professions over the last two decades, and there has been a steady increase in female participation in the Mexican economy to its current level of about one-half of the total labor force. Career opportunities, working conditions, earnings, and benefits for women in Mexico, however, still fall far below those of men. Men occupy more than three-fourths of the managerial positions in the public and private service sectors, and they earn 17 percent more than women, on average.

Many social organizations have been formed to combat gender discrimination, and labor unions are very actively involved as well.

Legal Rights

Mexican law provides its women citizens the right to vote, to stand in national elections, and to inherit property. In reality, however, many women do not benefit from their rights due to social obligations and pressure.

Similarly, the law offers equal rights and employment opportunities to both sexes, with equal pay for equal work performed. But National Institute of Women statistics reveal that women earn half of what men earn at low-level positions, that salaried women earn about 80 percent of salaried men workers’ earnings, and that women only earn 65 percent of men’s salaries at the executive level.

Women in Professions

In pre-industrialized Mexico, women traditionally worked in agriculture. Most women now work in the service sector, often as clerks and street vendors, and in domestic services including cleaning and childcare. Representation in professions has also increased to the point where women make up about a quarter of all professionals, with numbers on the rise.

Only a small number of females hold director positions within boards. However, the percentage of firms with at least one woman on the board of directors is increasing and is indicative of the growing number of female business executives.

All Mexican men and women have the right to free choice of profession and employment, but law does not permit any woman to work in unhealthful or dangerous jobs or in industries and commercial establishments after 10 p.m. Women may follow a formal dress code at the workplace, but there is no specific dress code restriction for women.

As for children, in Mexico, working parents of nuclear families widely use childcare services, and in extended families the relatives take care of the children. Infant Development Centers (run by the Mexican Education Ministry), the Mexican Institute of Social Security, and the Institute of Security and Social Services for Governmental Employees also provide early childcare and development services.

Women as Business Owners

A growing number of businesses owned by Mexican women are good overall indicators of the growth rate of women in business.

Retail establishments see the most women owners followed by manufacturing businesses, with small numbers in the oil and gas industries and construction firms. Mexican women entrepreneurs are most widely present in educational services and personal services as well.