Support for a balanced representation of women and men in leadership positions in employers’ organizations – a project funded by the European Commission under the grant scheme PROGRESS
Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family set out to actively promote a more balanced representation of women and men in decision-making. It will do so in the framework of a project titled “Support for a balanced representation of women and men in leadership positions in employers’ organizations ” funded from the grant scheme Progress of the European Commission. The project intends to address the existing inequalities in gender representation in these positions, which persist despite the fact that the proportion of women university graduates is now higher than 50%.
According to the latest data published by the European Commission in the framework of its annual survey “Women and men in decision-making”, women in Slovakia only constitute 18% of the supervisory boards. Their representation is even lower when it comes to executive positions where they constitute 13% of the board of directors, and mere 10% in the top positions. The above-mentioned project is at the moment being successfully implemented in Austria and the Czech Republic. Its primary aim is an active promotion of balanced representation of women and men in leadership, through a number of activities. The activities aim to raise awareness and sensitize the public, particularly employers, regarding the persistent inequalities in the labour market, and highlight the positive impact of equal representation of both sexes in leadership, and last but not least, specific activities will aim to encourage women to network and share related experiences among themselves. The specific objectives of the project include:
- Gathering information and identifying obstacles and good practices in terms of employing women in decision-making;
- Improvement of the knowledge base on the impact of the gender dimension to the representation of women in leadership positions in organizations;
- Development of tools to enhance gender equality in decision-making at different levels of hierarchy in private and public organizations.
With these objectives in mind, the ministry set out to promote exchange of experiences among employers and other key stakeholders via three regional conferences. These are to be held in Bratislava, Banská Bystrica and Košice. Employers will be further motivated to participate in an annual competition “Family, gender equality and equal opportunities – friendly employer, ” with a specific focus on promoting balanced participation of women and men in decision-making positions in their companies and organizations.
Among other outcomes, a methodological guide for employers’ organizations will be created by the Institute for Labour and Family Research, aiming to raise awareness and create conditions for a more balanced representation of women and men in organizations. The guide will allow each employer interested in this subject to understand and effectively dealt with issues of gender equality and equality of opportunities between men and women in his or her organization.
