Gender equality as a national goal. The Swedish model
A look at the small numbers of women in congress, on boards, and other influencial bodies in the US is always shocking when seen in a photograph of members. In contrast Sweden instituted a national policy of equality between women and men, beginning in 1980. Since 1995 each county in Sweden has a regional expert on gender equality.
"The main task of these experts is to promote mainstreaming of a gender perspective into all policy fields and support efforts to achieve equality between women and men in their regions."
The general view in Sweden favors gender equality....
"Swedish gender equality policy is fundamentally concerned with the ability of each individual to achieve economic independence through gainful employment. Just as important are measures to enable both women and men to combine jobs with parenthood. It must also be possible for everybody, regardless of gender, to develop and participate in all aspects of community life according to their capabilities."
Family law is directed towards this goal....
"Among important aims of Swedish family law are to put women and men on an equal footing in marriage and to protect the financially weaker party in the event of divorce or death. The objective of certain other statutes, such as the Code of Parenthood, the Parental Leave Act and certain provisions of the National Insurance Act, is to lay the foundations of shared responsibility for the home and children. The Education Act and the Higher Education Act contain provisions on equality between women and men in schools and universities/colleges, respectively."
This is a new overall approach, not piecemeal unconnected efforts.
"The term "gender mainstreaming" is used internationally to describe this new approach, which implies a shift from special isolated measures to achieve gender equality towards broader measures affecting day-to-day political and administrative work"
The overall structure covers...
Power and influence
Education
Gender equality in working life
Occupational structure
Gender equality within the family
Parental benefits and child care
Men and gender equality
Violence against women
Trafficking in women and prostitution
Girls and young women at risk of "honour-related violence"
The remarkable record of voting that follows demonstrates the results of gender mainstreaming and contrasts greatly with our own. Problems still exist, but are recognized and worked on. Compared to the US, the Swedish women participate and influence all aspects of society. Perhaps if we start locally, with village, township and county government, we might contribute to efforts to promote equality on boards, commissions, and other decision making bodies extending to the national level.
"Women in Sweden have had the right to vote since 1921. The electoral turnout has traditionally been high, around 90 per cent. Electoral participation has seen a decline, however, in the last two elections, to roughly 80 per cent. Women tend to vote to a slightly higher degree than men.
The 2002 elections in Sweden resulted in an increase in the proportion of women in Parliament. Of the 349 members of Parliament, 45.3 per cent are women, compared to 43.6 per cent after the 1998 election and around 40 per cent after the 1994 election. The number of women in Parliament has more than tripled since 1971. That is due to a firm conviction among all political parties concerning the need to increase the number of women candidates. The largest political party, the Social Democrats, practiced a systematic alteration between women and men in their lists of constituency candidates in the 1994, 1998 and 2002 elections.
The most important political work in Parliament is done by its standing committees, and 44 per cent of the seats on these committees are held by women. Women hold a majority in several of these committees.
There are eleven male ministers and eleven female ministers in the Government (January 2004). Ten women (out of a total of 26) are State secretaries, the rank immediately below cabinet minister.
Conditions in the municipalities and county councils are similar to those in Parliament. Well over 40 per cent of municipal councillors are women. Representation on the county councils, whose responsibilities include health and medical services, is even higher.
Although Swedish women are admittedly present at virtually all levels of the decision-making hierarchy, they tend to be allotted fewer influential appointments and to do work which is not always in the public eye. In recent years, both Government and Parliament have therefore focused on the low representation of women in indirectly elected bodies. Active efforts in recent years have raised the number of women in public boards at national level from 16 per cent in 1986 to 47 per cent in 2001.
Despite Swedish women's relatively strong position in directly elected bodies, men still dominate nearly all policy-making bodies. This also goes for senior positions in employer and employee organisations as well as in political and other associations. In senior management positions in the private sector, the percentage of women is even lower. In order to stimulate an even gender distribution in the private sector, a Business Leadership Academy was formed in 1995 at the initiative of the Government and representatives of the private sector, with the aim of developing the role of men and women managers.
In recent years, the Government has focused attention on the representation of women and men on the boards of major private companies. There are very few women on the boards of these companies and serving as corporate CEO's.
In January 2002, the Government appointed a study commission on women in leading positions in the business sector. The commission was entrusted with documenting the participation of women at the top management and board level in the Swedish business sector. It was also asked to summarise the state of knowledge in the field of research on gender and organisations concerning the obstacles and structures that determine developments. According to the Commission's report "Male Dominance in Transition," submitted in March 2003, male dominance in corporate executive suites and boardrooms persists, although there has been some progress since 1994. If employee representatives are excluded, the proportion of men on the boards of companies with private forms of ownership and at least 200 employees was 98 per cent in 1993, but had declined to 92 per cent by 2002.
In the spring of 2003, the Minister for Industry and Trade initiated further efforts to present concrete proposals to speed up the process of recruiting a higher proportion of women to the boards and top managements at private companies. The Government invited private companies to roundtable discussions on these matters and invited them to make suggestions for steps to be taken.
Their suggestions and the Commission report were sent to various organisations for official comment. In late 2003 the resulting comments were published and a seminar brought together business and government representatives. Based on the official comments and the views voiced at this seminar, the Government will decide whether further action is warranted.
Sweden
"The main task of these experts is to promote mainstreaming of a gender perspective into all policy fields and support efforts to achieve equality between women and men in their regions."
The general view in Sweden favors gender equality....
"Swedish gender equality policy is fundamentally concerned with the ability of each individual to achieve economic independence through gainful employment. Just as important are measures to enable both women and men to combine jobs with parenthood. It must also be possible for everybody, regardless of gender, to develop and participate in all aspects of community life according to their capabilities."
Family law is directed towards this goal....
"Among important aims of Swedish family law are to put women and men on an equal footing in marriage and to protect the financially weaker party in the event of divorce or death. The objective of certain other statutes, such as the Code of Parenthood, the Parental Leave Act and certain provisions of the National Insurance Act, is to lay the foundations of shared responsibility for the home and children. The Education Act and the Higher Education Act contain provisions on equality between women and men in schools and universities/colleges, respectively."
This is a new overall approach, not piecemeal unconnected efforts.
"The term "gender mainstreaming" is used internationally to describe this new approach, which implies a shift from special isolated measures to achieve gender equality towards broader measures affecting day-to-day political and administrative work"
The overall structure covers...
Power and influence
Education
Gender equality in working life
Occupational structure
Gender equality within the family
Parental benefits and child care
Men and gender equality
Violence against women
Trafficking in women and prostitution
Girls and young women at risk of "honour-related violence"
The remarkable record of voting that follows demonstrates the results of gender mainstreaming and contrasts greatly with our own. Problems still exist, but are recognized and worked on. Compared to the US, the Swedish women participate and influence all aspects of society. Perhaps if we start locally, with village, township and county government, we might contribute to efforts to promote equality on boards, commissions, and other decision making bodies extending to the national level.
"Women in Sweden have had the right to vote since 1921. The electoral turnout has traditionally been high, around 90 per cent. Electoral participation has seen a decline, however, in the last two elections, to roughly 80 per cent. Women tend to vote to a slightly higher degree than men.
The 2002 elections in Sweden resulted in an increase in the proportion of women in Parliament. Of the 349 members of Parliament, 45.3 per cent are women, compared to 43.6 per cent after the 1998 election and around 40 per cent after the 1994 election. The number of women in Parliament has more than tripled since 1971. That is due to a firm conviction among all political parties concerning the need to increase the number of women candidates. The largest political party, the Social Democrats, practiced a systematic alteration between women and men in their lists of constituency candidates in the 1994, 1998 and 2002 elections.
The most important political work in Parliament is done by its standing committees, and 44 per cent of the seats on these committees are held by women. Women hold a majority in several of these committees.
There are eleven male ministers and eleven female ministers in the Government (January 2004). Ten women (out of a total of 26) are State secretaries, the rank immediately below cabinet minister.
Conditions in the municipalities and county councils are similar to those in Parliament. Well over 40 per cent of municipal councillors are women. Representation on the county councils, whose responsibilities include health and medical services, is even higher.
Although Swedish women are admittedly present at virtually all levels of the decision-making hierarchy, they tend to be allotted fewer influential appointments and to do work which is not always in the public eye. In recent years, both Government and Parliament have therefore focused on the low representation of women in indirectly elected bodies. Active efforts in recent years have raised the number of women in public boards at national level from 16 per cent in 1986 to 47 per cent in 2001.
Despite Swedish women's relatively strong position in directly elected bodies, men still dominate nearly all policy-making bodies. This also goes for senior positions in employer and employee organisations as well as in political and other associations. In senior management positions in the private sector, the percentage of women is even lower. In order to stimulate an even gender distribution in the private sector, a Business Leadership Academy was formed in 1995 at the initiative of the Government and representatives of the private sector, with the aim of developing the role of men and women managers.
In recent years, the Government has focused attention on the representation of women and men on the boards of major private companies. There are very few women on the boards of these companies and serving as corporate CEO's.
In January 2002, the Government appointed a study commission on women in leading positions in the business sector. The commission was entrusted with documenting the participation of women at the top management and board level in the Swedish business sector. It was also asked to summarise the state of knowledge in the field of research on gender and organisations concerning the obstacles and structures that determine developments. According to the Commission's report "Male Dominance in Transition," submitted in March 2003, male dominance in corporate executive suites and boardrooms persists, although there has been some progress since 1994. If employee representatives are excluded, the proportion of men on the boards of companies with private forms of ownership and at least 200 employees was 98 per cent in 1993, but had declined to 92 per cent by 2002.
In the spring of 2003, the Minister for Industry and Trade initiated further efforts to present concrete proposals to speed up the process of recruiting a higher proportion of women to the boards and top managements at private companies. The Government invited private companies to roundtable discussions on these matters and invited them to make suggestions for steps to be taken.
Their suggestions and the Commission report were sent to various organisations for official comment. In late 2003 the resulting comments were published and a seminar brought together business and government representatives. Based on the official comments and the views voiced at this seminar, the Government will decide whether further action is warranted.
Sweden
posted by Anne Damm at 5:59 PM
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