Women in management: Welcome to the 1970s

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By Katarina Baer
     
      Did anyone notice the picture of the board of directors of Raisio in yesterday's paper? That's right - the one where six men and one woman sit at a table posing. Exactly - it's like a blast from the 1970s.
      In fact, the picture was from last year, and I guess I need to say that Raisio is actually doing rather well for itself, by having even one woman on its board.
      It's the 21st century now, and the gender ratio of the board of the food manufacturer is actually a bit more balanced than average for Finland. So please don't take this personally over there at Raisio.
     
Finnish companies stand to lose more than just image points when they overlook women for top positions. A study by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA last autumn won a good deal of attention by noting that companies run by women are ten per cent more profitable than those run by men. The study does not reveal if this is a reflection of special skills on the part of women, or the more open corporate culture of the companies in question.
      Studies in the United States have come up with similar findings.
     
Instead of using this positive message as an impetus to bring about change, the Confederation of Finnish Industry (EK) writes off the problem as one of men's and women's professions, and complains about wrong attitudes prevailing among women and in the media.
      At least this was the message that came through from the organisation's expert on gender equality issues in yesterday's Helsingin Sanomat.
      But what else can anyone expect from an organisation which has just one woman on its 20-member board?
     
Positive development which had been sprouting in Finland and Sweden for a few years in getting more women onto boards of listed companies came to a halt when coercive measures came to an end.
      In Finland the state achieved its goal that at least 40 per cent of the members of the boards of its own companies should be women. In Sweden, the government stopped threatening to impose quotas.
      Equality Minister Stefan Wallin (Swed. People's Party) is currently pondering an ingenious reform of family leave, partly based on mandatory rules, and partly on freedom of choice. Some kind of an alliance of the carrot and the stick would also be needed to get the top end of business life to join this world.
      The top echelons of Finnish listed companies are like a trip in a time machine - into the past.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 18.3.2008


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Study: companies managed by women more profitable than those run by men (25.9.2007)

Links:
  EVA report: Women to the top! - A Leader Regardless of Gender

KATARINA BAER / Helsingin Sanomat
katarina.baer@hs.fi