Women in European Work Life Piia-Noora Kauppi 31.1.2012

Women in European Work Life

Piia-Noora Kauppi31.1.2012

© Finanssialan Keskusliitto | Finansbranschens Centralförbund

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Economics of Equality

> World Economic Forum study: Measuring the Global Gender Gap

- Data from 58 countries- Index of five critical areas:

1. Economic participation 2. Economic opportunity 3. Political empowerment4. Educational attainment5. Health and well-being

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“When a man opens a car door for his wife, it's either a new car or a new wife.”

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Gender Gap ranking

> Nordic countries on top of the list> Seven East European nations among top 25

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia Nordic influence?

> EU and North America almost at the same level> Jordan, Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt occupy the

lowest ranks Impact of Islamic tradition?

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Investments in equality = Success of nations

> Countries which don’t invest in half of their potential, misallocate their labour force and underestimate their potential competitiveness

> A direct link can be established between women’s position in the society and national competitiveness

> The European Union cannot be successful without women!

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> Strong correlation of Growth Competitiveness Index ranks and Gender Gap ranks!

> Countries with high standards of gender equality are global high achievers in growth and competitiveness

> Nota bene: There is no country which would have eliminated the gender gap

Work must continue!

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“Whatever women do they must do twice as well as

men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not

very difficult”

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The glass ceiling exists

> Women are more educated and achieve higher academic scores

> Only 5 % of Fortune-500 CEO’s are women > In Sweden, a mere 1.5 % of senior management are

women whereas in the 'hire-and-fire' USA, 11 % of senior management are women

> Despite the growing number of women attorneys (25-35%), only a small number are partners in law firms (5-15%)

> In US, 49% of high-achieving women are childless, compared to 19% of their male colleagues

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“Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since

it consists principally in dealing with men”

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Gender Quotas

> In Norway 40% of board members have to be women by 2008

This is not the right way to go!

> Merit, not gender (male or female) should determine one’s career

> Does not lead to true equality

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13© Finanssialan Keskusliitto | Finansbranschens Centralförbund

“The best thing that could happen to a

chauvinist CEO is for him to have a bunch of

talented daughters”

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On ramp, off ramp

> Sylvia Ann Hewlett & Carolyn Buck Luce (Harvard Business Review 02/05)

> Pull factors vs. push factors> Off ramping widens the salary gap

- On average women lose 18% of their earning power, in business & banking sector, 28%- In general women careers are non-linear- Only 15% of highly qualified women single out ”a powerful

position” as an important goal - Ability to associate with people they respect (82%) much

more meaningful

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The problems at the top ranks

> Salary gap still exists: A woman’s Euro is only 78 cents

> Gender-based violence a huge problem Violence is broader in low gender gap countries such as Sweden and Finland- In Finland 80 000 housecalls yearly- 17 000 are cases of domestic violence

> Loosing the feminim advantage?- The case of Anne Lauvergeon, CEO of Areva- The paradox of becoming ”a Good Guy”

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“Women always worry about the things that

men forget; men always worry about the things

women remember”

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Gender equality in Asia

> China is the highest ranking nation in Asia> Study with young women

- Chinese girls want to become entrepreneurs, chief executives, professional experts etc

- Japanese girls want to marry a rich man and stay at home or work part time in education or health sector

> Reproductive health still in a very poor state One child policy is still living strong on the level of the

attitudes

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Women’s rights are human rights

> 1600 women die every day from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth

> HIV affects mainly women- In US, 90% of teenage AIDS cases are girls

> Yearly 2 million girls, usually aged 4-8, face female genital mutilation

> Women represent more than 2/3 of the world’s illiterate adults

> Women still hold only 15,6% of elected parliamentary seats

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The next steps

> Women in top positions must be the pioneers:

- Change the institutions they work in

- Be innovative in advancing gender equality

- Be good examples

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To Do

> We must eliminate ”Sister Peer Pressure Courts” which are based on envy

> We must get rid of ”Bad Big Sisters” which are women with low self esteem judging the choices of others

> We should educate our sons to become better men than their fathers

> We must be proud to be women!

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Summa Summarum

> Gender equality is a success factor

> There’s no perfect equality anywhere

A goal worth fighting for!

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Gabor

“I’m a marvelous housekeeper.

Every time I leave a man I keep his house.”

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www.fkl.fi

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Documents

Women in European Work Life Piia-Noora Kauppi 31.1.2012