The Approach of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to the Gender Equality Certification System UNI/PdR 125:2022

In 2022, the Italian government introduced a national gender equality (GE) certification system called UNI/PdR 125:2022 Practice. Its objective is to promote the adoption of gender equality policies in enterprises and provide guidelines for setting up a management system for an inclusive and gender-equal workplace. Due to the recent introduction of the UNI/PdR 125:2022 Practice, research on this subject is still minimal. This research contributes to filling this gap by exploring the approach of Italian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) toward this tool in order to understand if its purpose, potential, and actual benefits have been fully grasped. A survey has been conducted covering six manufacturing and service sectors with a female- or male-dominated workforce to compare approaches from different organizations. The administration of the survey took place by CAWI and CATI in December 2023, involving 866 companies and reaching a response rate of 11.5%. The sample is stratified by sectors and geographical localization. The findings show that gender equality certification is little widespread among Italian SMEs. Only 2.7% of the sample are UNI/PdR 125:2022 certified. Additionally, Italian SMEs know a little about the practice of UNI/PdR 125:2022 but less about the public benefits and incentives to support the certification process. The main driver of the certification process is the willingness to promote a fair and inclusive working environment for Italian SMEs. Therefore, the top management’s or the entrepreneur’s will to move in this direction can make a difference. The main perceived benefits are improving the company’s image, reputation, and work environment. However, SMEs see the high cost of getting certified and uncertainty about the effectiveness of certification as the main barriers. Thus, the results indicate the UNI/PdR 125:2022’s possible positive impact on the company but, at the same time, the companies’ low awareness of gender certification systems and their low propensity toward this tool.