UNDP Gender Equality Seal: Discover the Results of the Study

The Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) has released the results of the Gender Diagnosis in Career and Compensation at TCU , developed under the UNDP Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions.

The study, led by Professor Ana Paula Salej, PhD, takes a close look at how people enter, grow, and advance in their careers at TCU. It offers a comprehensive overview of gender representation within the institution, along with recommendations to guide future equity policies.

The findings show that women make up 25.8% of TCU's permanent staff. Their presence is strongest in mid-level and support staff positions but drops to 22.7% in the Auditor role the position with the greatest decision-making power and highest salaries. This gap highlights persistent barriers to full equality, despite recent progress.

Recruitment remains one of the biggest challenges. In the 2021 entrance exam for Federal Government Auditor, women accounted for 44.3% of applicants but only 20.9% of those approved. The multiple-choice exam proved to be a bottleneck, filtering out a larger share of women and widening inequalities.

The study also examined affirmative action already in place at TCU, such as quotas for people with disabilities (since 2006) and for Black candidates (first applied in 2021). These measures have helped boost diversity,

When it comes to career progression, men and women advance at similar rates. But maternity leave has sometimes been recorded as not assessable in performance reviews, potentially delaying promotions. TCU's HR Secretariat has already taken action to correct this issue.

The study also reveals that, despite existing policies to increase women's participation in strategic positions, a division of labor persists, with women concentrated in advisory roles, while remaining underrepresented in technical positions such as senior specialists and leadership roles particularly among auditors in core units. This distribution may limit women's opportunities for professional development and participation in decision-making spaces at the TCU. According to the consultant responsible for the study:

The data indicate that, among technical staff, women have been able to access trust-based positions with greater equity, especially in advisory and leadership areas. This suggests that there is no widespread institutional barrier to women's presence in commissioned roles, but rather differences in how opportunities for recognition and advancement are distributed among positions. The concentration of technical staff and auditors in advisory positions requires monitoring and a better understanding of this phenomenon, in order to reveal potential barriers or distinct valuation patterns related to task segmentation or informal selection practices. The comparison thus shows how gender interacts with the occupational structure to shape career development opportunities.

On pay, the picture is encouraging, women earn nearly the same as men, 99.2% of male salaries for auditors and 96.7% for technical staff. Differences are mainly linked to the lower number of women in commissioned roles and in receiving the Specialization and Qualification Bonus (AEQ), as well as some performance evaluation effects. The study concludes that, although the remuneration structure is formally equal, subtle gaps persist that require ongoing monitoring and supportive measures to ensure full equity.

Overall, the study shows that TCU has made important strides toward gender equity, but structural challenges remain to build an increasingly inclusive and representative work environment. By publishing these findings, the Court hopes to raise awareness and provide concrete guidance to strengthen its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy, aligned with international best practices.

The full report and executive summary are available online.