Rethinking power and leadership with gender perspectives
Within a context of an increasingly difficult situation for women after the Covid-19 pandemic, CEC European Managers highlights the importance of rethinking power, leadership and everyday behaviour. Today’s Gender Gaps concern equity, wages, pensions and everyday lived experiences. Against that background, CEC European Managers participates in the ambitious RE-WIRING research project “Realising Girls’ and Women’s Inclusion, Representation and Empowerment.”
“More than ever, we need to embrace both the feminine and masculine in leadership. From innovation capacity in business to patterns of violence – embracing a gender perspective is key to economic success, social wellbeing and tackling the climate crisis.” Ebba Öhlund, Treasurer
According to the World Economic Forum, the gender gap has of late significantly increased (rather than diminished) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The gender gap concerns girls’ and women’s economic participation and opportunity, education, health and survival, and political empowerment. The EU’s Gender Equality Index shows a similar picture: in the EU today, only 7,8% of women in the largest listed companies are CEOs. In the US, a study found that female executives in S&P 500 companies hold only 1% of total shares – although women make 25% of executives.
CEC European Managers has joined the RE-WIRING research project to contribute to the discussion on gender and power in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres. The projects’ Transformative Equality approach embraces the intervention of diverse stakeholders, transformative equality measures in society and tangible policy recommendations on gender equality. With gender equality measures so far having little effect, the project underlines that effective transformation and women’s empowerment can only come about when simultaneous action is taken on the institutional, experiential and symbolical levels.
The case for gender equality is clear: not only is it key for women’s lives, but it is also a strong economic argument. Research has shown that by 2050, improving gender equality would lead to an increase in EU (GDP) per capita by 6.1 to 9.6%, which amounts to €1.95 to €3.15 trillion. Some countries increasingly recognise that and therefore prioritise progress for women’s working conditions as for instance demonstrated by a recent ranking of the best countries for women to work, placing Sweden, Finland, Norway, Lithuania and Slovenia on top in the EU.
Read more
RE-WIRING Project Presentation (Powerpoint) with facts and figures
CEC report on Mainstreaming Gender Equality in European Leadership
