Women's representation in leading business positions increases

Women's representation in senior management positions and company boards in Sweden is increasing, though rather slowly. This is the main finding of a government-commissioned report published in March 2003, based on a survey of 500 organisations..

In March 2002, the Swedish government appointed Anna Wahl as a commissioner to examine women's participation at management and board level in private sector companies.(SE0204101N). On 7 March 2003, Ms Wahl submitted her report, entitled 'Male dominance during times of change in management groups and company boards' (Mansdominans i förändring - om ledningsgrupper och styrelser, SOU 2003:16).

The new report follows up a study carried out in 1993-4, whose findings were published in 1994, and examines developments over the last eight years. The 1994 survey on 'Men's attitudes to women in management positions' (Mäns föreställningar om kvinnor och chefsskap, SOU 1994:3) found that the boards in 72% of Swedish private sector companies contained only men, as did the management groups of 56% of these firms. The management of just over 40% of the companies did not carry out any work to promote equal opportunities inside the company. Male and female managers were found to have quite different opinions about the reasons why the number of women in leading positions was so low, and whether it was important to change this.

The follow-up report published in March 2003 is based on a new survey of 500 large organisations, conducted in 2002. Certain new themes have been taken up as a starting point for linking this inquiry to other research in the field, these being: women's opportunities to be owners and entrepreneurs; women's representation on boards of directors; men as 'corporate leaders' and the 'construction of masculinity'; the situation of young business leaders; and research on processes of change.

Board representation

A total of 500 organisations with 200 and more employees were covered by the new study, of which 82% were privately-owned limited companies. Of the organisations examined, 87% have boards of directors dominated by men - ie more than 60% of board members are males. Men dominate 93% of private company boards. Some 42% of all the organisations have no female representatives on their boards. Women constitute an average of 17% of board members in all organisations - falling to 13% among private companies - and men 83%. A large proportion of the women sitting on boards are trade union representatives appointed under the provisions of the Act on Board Representation (Lagen om styrelserepresentation för anställda, 1987:1245) (SE9907181F). Some 31% of the female board members in all organisations and 37% in private companies are such trade union representatives, appointed by local unions.

Top management teams

Almost 86% of the organisations surveyed have top management teams that are dominated by men. In 32% of the organisations, the top management team consists exclusively of men. For privately owned companies, the corresponding figures are 90% and 34% respectively. In all organisations, women constitute 18% of all top managers, and 16% in privately owned companies. The most common sphere of responsibility for women in leading managerial positions is personnel/human resources, where 24% are women. The next most common activity for women in the positions mentioned is financial management.

In the private sector, the gender distribution of young managers, aged 35 years and younger, is 75% men and 25% women. The expectation that organisations will change through taking in younger employees is thus overestimated, the report states. The fact is that men and women do not enter and establish themselves in organisations on equal conditions. 'The young generation' is therefore not the solution to gender equality issues. It is also in this generation that problems of parenthood and home responsibilities are crucial. It is therefore very important to improve equality education and the will to change within organisations, according to the report.

Gender equality work

In the 1994 survey, 58% of the organisations studied stated that they performed systematic gender equality work. In 2002, 78% of the organisations stated that they carry out this kind of work. The most common form of gender equality work is drawing up a gender equality plan (in line with the law), followed by measures relating to recruitment, pay and working hours. Some 18% of the organisations surveyed have in-house courses on gender issues for their staff, while 12% use special networks for women. Half of the organisations state that they have declared officially that they want to increase the number of women managers.

Commentary

Comparing the results from the two studies, the 1994 survey found that 72% of the organisations had only men on their boards, while the corresponding figure for 2002 was 42%. In 1994, the top management team in 56% of organisations contained only men, whereas the figure for 2002 was 32%. While 58% of the organisations stated that they performed systematic gender equality work in 1994, some 78% stated that they did so in 2002. In 1994, a third of the organisations stated that they had problems with the fact that there were few women in leading positions in their organisation, and in 2002 as many as 50% admitted that they had such problems. A greater awareness has thus spread, the commissioner suggests.

However, men continue to dominate leading positions in large organisations in the private sector. Some organisations do engage in efforts to bring about change, aiming to create a more even representation of the sexes. Gender equality work in organisations has grown in scope over the past decade and to some extent has even changed in character. There are indications of an increased awareness of the skewed gender distribution at management and board levels. On the other hand, the commissioner points out, the proportion of women among young managers is still low.

Most of the measures to bring about change in this area that are undertaken in Swedish workplaces are of the type prescribed in the Act on Equality between Men and Women (Jämställdhetslagen, 1991:433). This legislation continues to play a major role in the field of equality between men and women at work. Another issue repeatedly discussed is the issue of possible quotas, for example setting quotas for the presence of women on company boards. There will be an opportunity to return to this issue, especially if the government presents a bill in this direction, which now seems possible. (Annika Berg, Arbetslivsinstitutet)