also included the topics of diversity and inclusion in their research agendas, and the webinar features several good examples of those. also, all the participants would benefit from getting a view from the academia on the implications for the economics of the lack of diversity. gender, of course, is one important aspect of diversity, but this webinar also brings together studies from authors affiliated to institutions all over the world. this geographical diversity would enrich the discussion and expand the menu of possible action points. the conclusions we may reach over the course of these two days will certainly boost the actions to be carried out by our institutions which should be expected to lead by example not only within the financial sector but also, as a public administration, fulfilling our duty to serve public interest. banco de espana has already committed different internal actions. among others we have created a group of d & i ambassadors, representing all the business areas together with hr - of which i am proud to be the sponsor -. this group has the purpose of enhancing diversity and inclusion consciousness and helping to step up specific measures across the organization. we have also worked on a data dashboard for the top management to track gender progress through kpis on an annual basis, we have launched leadership and mentoring programs to strengthen strategic skills and encourage female to apply for management positions, we guarantee gender equitable panels in managerial recruitment processes, we are deploying training in unconscious bias, we have an internal d & i manifesto and we are working closely on a regular basis with our colleagues of the escb and ssm on a specific network to advance diversity and inclusion in our institutions. these actions are already proving we are on the right path, but events, such as this, sharing different views, challenges, approaches, and possible ways of improving, allow us to discover new pathways to become more efficient in the fulfilling of our goal : gender equality in central banks. thank you very much and enjoy the sessions!

phd. they usually enter the ecb at the expert level ( salary band f / g ) and subsequently progress to the principal economist level ( salary band h ) and adviser level ( salary band i ). the salary bands above adviser level are for heads of division and senior management. to move to a higher salary band, economists must submit an application and be selected in a promotion campaign. the study shows that the average difference between economist - level starting salaries for men and women in the period 2003 - 2017 was small : just over 1 %. 2 however, the gender wage gap widens notably over time, reaching more than 7 % after ten years. 3 for moves within the same salary band, however, the differences are minimal ( see righthand panel ). this indicates that the divergence between men's and women's salaries is primarily related to the probability of promotion over time. the paper demonstrates that, among employees beginning their career in the expert salary band, 4 after ten years the probability of promotion for men stood at 57 %, while that of women was just 37 % ( see left - hand panel ). however, the analysis also shows the marked impact of the ecb ’ s recent initiatives. in contrast with the preceding period, from 2011 onwards the gap between the promotion rates of men and women has been very small ( see right - hand panel ). 5 nevertheless, despite the ecb ’ s diversity policy, the gender differences in the career progression of its employees were not eradicated entirely. one important conclusion we can draw from studying promotion processes between 2012 and 2017 is that women are less likely to apply than men. indeed, women ’ s application rate is around 40 % lower than men ’ s. therefore, given that the probability of promotion has been similar for men and women since 2011, women ’ s lower application rate means that those ultimately applying for these processes have a greater chance of being promoted. or five salary steps ( see left - hand panel ). 25 steps after five years and 29 steps after ten years. salary band f / g. based on three - year moving averages, the promotion gender gap was positive and statistically significant in each period until 2010, but statistically insignificant in the three - year periods since then. this poses the question of whether women ’ s success at the ecb is down to positive discrimination or merit. in other words, are women being promoted because of their gender or because they are the best candidate irrespective of their gender