Women managers make proposals for greater gender equality
One hundred and fifty women managers participated in a workshop today to discuss what should be done to get more women into leading positions. The workshop was the kick-off to the Northern Future Forum summit. At the summit, nine heads of government from the Nordic and Baltic countries and the United Kingdom will discuss women's entrepreneurship and leadership, and older people in the labour market from a growth perspective.
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Minister for Enterprise Annie Lööf
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Sofia Falk, moderator
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Concrete proposals were discussed.
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The proposals were formed in a creative process.
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Anna Serner, head of the Swedish Film Institute
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Lena Olving, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Saab
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Minister for Gender Equality Nyamko Sabuni was handed the proposals to get more women into leading positions
"We cannot afford to waste half of the population's potential, and I am pleased that women's leadership is on the agenda for this meeting. Sweden as a gender-equal country must make use of the driving forces of both men and women, and there are gains to be made from more gender-equal governing boards and company management," said Minister for Enterprise Annie Lööf when she initiated the meeting.
Sofia Falk, CEO of Wiminvest - who was moderator for the meeting and who will also be one of the moderators at the Northern Future Forum - thinks that something appears to happen to women on their career paths:
"At around 35 to 40 years of age, women start to drop off. But what is it that stops us from continuing? The issue is what women as a target group need to want to develop themselves more and take greater responsibility. It's strange that this is not a more common issue among organisations and businesses; what does this target group want?" said Ms Falk.
Under Ms Falk's leadership, all participants had the opportunity to work in small groups to arrive at concrete proposals for both politicians and the business sector concerning how to increase women leadership. The workshop was intended to result in a list to be handed to Minister for Gender Equality Nyamko Sabuni, who also took part in the seminar.
"The business sector does not benefit men who believe in gender equality"
Among the participants was Anna Serner, head of the Swedish Film Institute.
"Today's initiative is a good one. There are specific wishes we can agree on, and this means that the politicians cannot ignore them if they are serious about this. Changes cost money, but they have to be made if we are to achieve anything. One problem today is that the business sector does not benefit men who want to live a life of gender equality," she said.
Several participants mentioned the need to think outside the box. The realities are changing and we have to change our outlook to keep up.
"The major obstacle for development is that we use a very narrow and limited definition of skills," said Lena Olving, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Saab. "And that differences are often seen as an obstacle rather than an asset. No governing board or company management has anything to gain from having ten identical men making decisions. Differences are important," she said.
Entrepreneurship in schools
At the end of the workshop, Minister for Gender Equality Nyamko Sabuni was handed the group's concrete proposals to get more women into leading positions. She stressed the need to start countering ideas about gender roles from an early age.
"It starts in the classroom, and we have to break these ossified gender roles. Both entrepreneurship and rhetoric have to be important subjects at school," she said.
Some of the proposals Ms Sabuni received were to 'push' women towards operative positions, to maintain and develop tax credits for domestic services (RUT), and to increase measures to create a more gender-equal culture in schools.
