Denmark has chosen a female prime
minster for the first time, but when Finland has chosen men both as
president and prime minister not even that improves the balance of
power in the Nordic region. One step forward and two steps back, it
seems.
Iceland’s Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir has managed to
change things. She puts it bluntly: Before the economic crisis hit
Iceland, society there was governed according to male values. A small
elite held power. Now power is more equally divided. “It is sometimes
said that things would look different if women had been in power before
the crash.”
We didn’t ask Manu Sareen, Minister for Equality in Denmark as well
as in the EU right now, whether he agrees with Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir.
But he told Nordic Labour Journal he intends to turbo-charge the work
for gender equality both in Denmark and in Europe. He wants to fight
violence against women and a gender divided labour market, but he does
not want quotas.
Sweden too focuses on women and the labour market. For many years
the government has fought to support, develop and highlight
women’s entrepreneurship. But it’s important to keep an eye on the
ball. Our report shows Swedish entrepreneurship risks mirroring the
gender segregated labour market.
There’s a lively debate on women, power and positions, especially
when it comes to board representation in big companies. Only one in ten
board members is a woman, says the OECD. EU commissioner Viviane Reding
has run out of patience. She will introduce boardroom gender quotas if
the companies can’t sort it out themselves.
Yet there are some positive developments: the chairman of
Carlsberg’s executive board, Povl Krogsgaard-Larsen, wants to take the
number of women on the board from zero to 40 percent. He is convinced
women board members will help the bottom line, and says “any group
works best when both sexes are represented”. But he strongly opposes
legally binding quotas.
Legally binding quotas is what has made Norway an example to follow
for many countries. The law on boardroom gender quotas backed by
effective sanctions has so far given the best results. “The gender
quota law is a resounding success,” says our expert. So maybe two steps
forward and…
