Anita Göransson is an economic historian, Professor in Gender, Economic Change and Organisation at Linköping University and Professor of Gender History at the University of Gothenburg. She is sometimes confronted with the view that initiatives in research and politics should not focus on an already privileged group of women, but instead be targeted at women who have less power. But according to Anita Göransson, everything is interconnected.
“The lack of women leaders is a strong indicator of the position of women in society. If they, or any other group, do not have access to power on equal grounds with men, it is a sure sign of shortcomings in society as a whole.”
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| Illustration: Trude Tjensvold |
In 2006, Anita Göransson and her research team presented a broad overview of the people holding power in all the important domains in Sweden. The material for the investigation – a survey and a questionnaire inquiry – dated back to 2001. She therefore returned to the subject in late 2007, which resulted in an updated survey, published in the form of a Swedish government report (SOU 2007:108). In the six years between the investigations, no major changes had occurred. But the updated survey also covers lower levels in society, which allows Anita Göransson to draw the following conclusion:
“Gender equality exists mainly at the level of highly visible positions at the top, where there is a public pressure for it. There is certain hypocrisy about the situation.”
At the Swedish national level, the domain which is most gender balanced is politics, where at least 40 per cent of both genders are represented. But there is also a fairly good gender balance in other positions where the political logic of democracy and representation has some influence: in ministries, authorities and public institutions.
At the Swedish regional and local levels, however, things look considerably less rosy. In municipal assemblies, there may be a fair balance, but top positions in the municipalities are usually occupied by men. Seven out of ten Swedish municipal commissioners, including commissioners representing the political opposition, chairs of municipal assemblies and of municipal executive committees, are male.
“Municipalities are something of a black spot when it comes to gender equality,” says Anita Göransson. “In general, research has focussed on the central government level, but I believe we should take a closer look at the municipalities.”
There are also regional differences, and major cities are more gender-equal than the countryside. There are also differences between the political parties.”
Research into power structures in other Nordic countries has shown that the differences at national and local level are similar. In Finland, a research programme in this field, which includes a component on gender and power, has been launched only recently, and it is still too early to draw any conclusions. But in Norway and Denmark, investigations into power structures, integrating a gender perspective, were completed a few years ago.
Hege Skjeie is Professor in Political Science at Oslo University. In 2003, she presented her findings from the Norwegian investigation into power that she carried out together with researcher Mari Teigen.
“Pressure may be stronger at national level,” she says.
“The share of women in chair positions in Norwegian municipalities is 23 per cent. Since there is only one post in each municipality, the problem is all the more apparent. Naturally, it cannot be solved by applying quota rules, as there is only one person involved.”
Anette Borchorst, Professor in Political Science at Aalborg University in Denmark, headed the research project Kønsmagt i forandring (Changes in Gendered Power), an integrated part of the Danish investigation into power which was completed in 2002. To her, the picture is all too familiar.
“At the local level, we have seen no change since the early 1990s,” says Anette Borchorst.
“The problem is that we Danes have this image of Denmark performing well on gender equality, but when it comes to putting things into practice, this is not the case. Part of the problem is that there is no debate on these matters. In Denmark, it is not an issue in the same way as it is in Sweden.”
“The share of women leaders in Denmark is extremely low compared to other EU member states. Only Malta and Cyprus do worse than Denmark.”
“Denmark is, however, one of the countries performing best on women’s participation in the labour market, education for women and organised child care. It is only on leadership that Denmark is falling behind.”
The business world is different
If there are shortcomings at the less visible levels in politics, that is nothing compared to commerce and industry – a domain of total male dominance. According to Statistics Sweden, 72 per cent of Swedish managerial posts are held by men. Female managers can mainly be found in the municipal administrations, where six out of ten managers are women. In the private sector, only one in five managers is a woman. Women in top positions are few and far between. According to the Swedish business magazine Veckans Affärer, 87 per cent of the top positions (chair of the board, managing director, marketing manager, financial manager and human resource manager) are held by men.
“I find it interesting that the situation is so different in the business world,” says Anita Göransson. “I think there is some variation between countries in this sector.”
“In Norwegian commerce and industry, there is a male dominance of over 90 per cent at the very top,” says Hege Skjeie. “There is no great difference between public and private companies.”
In Sweden, however, there is a difference.
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| Anita Göransson. Photo: Jann Lipka |
“It is mainly public companies that have welcomed women at the top,” says Anita Göransson. “In the private sector, women constitute
18 per cent of board members, whereas the percentage in the public sector is 49. The question is what happens when state-owned
companies are privatised.”
But it is still the position within the company that counts. In both private and state companies, we usually see men as managing
directors and board chairs.
“There may be many women on the board, but it will be chaired by a man,” says Anita Göransson. “If there are several board members, it is easier for a woman to take a place on the board. In business, boards are sometimes enlarged in order to accommodate more women.”
In other words, women are welcome only if they do not threaten the positions of men.
“This is not difficult to understand,” says Anita Göransson. “You could call it the Huey, Dewey and Louie effect. You prefer people similar to yourself.”
Hierarchical relations important
Anita Göransson distinguishes three types of recruitment:
• Representational – different groups of people are represented according to the size of the group
• Meritocracy – the person who has the best merits is appointed
• Co-opting – a group elects its members itself.
“One example of co-opting is the Rotary Clubs, but this is also common in, for instance, the world of scientific and cultural academia, and there also seems to be a substantial element of co-opting in business,” says Anita Göransson.
“The stronger this element is, the more important it becomes that there is mutual trust among the group members.”
Therefore the study of leaders’ networks is important in order to understand the processes of recruitment to top positions.
“In a study I carried out a few years ago concerning women’s and men’s managerial careers in the business world, I found that 60 per cent of the managers had never left their line of business and out of these 60 per cent, half had never changed companies. This shows that they are dependent on networks and hierarchical relations.”
“It is not until you are general manager that you can change to another trade. By then, you are a generalist.”
Quotas a curiosity
For companies to be able to compete for the best people, they need to broaden their recruitment base, according to Anita Göransson. She therefore supports the introduction of gender quotas in the business sector, along the lines of the Norwegian legislation. In Sweden, the introduction of quotas has been subject to an investigation, but so far no decision has been taken.
“It may be a question of terminology,” says Anita Göransson. “When you talk about quotas, people often think it is a matter of bringing in any woman, who has no idea of the work of a company board. But actually, it is all about promoting the under-represented gender in cases where qualifications are equal. Recruiting women who can’t compete on competence and qualifications will only achieve a negative effect.”
In Denmark, demands for quotas have not been popularly embraced. The Social Democrats, however, would like to introduce legislation similar to the Norwegian one.
“Quota legislation is very controversial in Denmark,” says Anette Borchorst. “But an increasing number of people would like to introduce it for a transition period. Not in politics, though, but in working life.”
Hege Skjeie takes a sceptical view as to whether company board quotas in Norway should be seen as an expression of a strong political will to reduce male dominance per se in business life. At least when it comes to this as an isolated action.
“Gender-balanced boards are a good thing, but it matters less if the overall management is male dominated. By this I don’t mean that measures for achieving gender balance on company boards are unimportant as a political action. But it is a curiosity. It is of an ad hoc nature. I don’t see it as part of the greater context, of how politics should relate to the business world.”
Measures for increasing the share of women managers are often justified with the argument that diversity pays off. Hege Skjeie finds this kind of thinking dangerous for women.
“It is a kind of diversity rhetoric, saying that diversity is positive for the organisation. It may be true. But at the same time, it means that a burden is placed on women. They will need to show what they are worth.”
“It may also lead to a boomerang effect. If you can’t prove that you are something different, what is the point? According to this rhetoric, women in managerial positions have a different burden of proof than men. This is degrading to women. The focus is only on women and not on the institutions.”
The question is, however, how business, driven by profit maximisation, can find justification elsewhere than in profitability. The logic of representation is not valid to the same extent in business as in politics.
“We have a legislative framework in place for the organisation of working life, and we have a duty to actively promote gender equality,” says Hege Skjeie.
“On environment, health and security, there are many conditions imposed on companies. The question is how strictly we can impose demands on companies in gender equality matters.”
40 per cent is the limit
Anita Göransson differentiates between three levels of gender balance – or imbalance. At the visible national level, where there is pub-lic pressure, there is often a proportion of at least 40 per cent women, meaning that the gender balance objective is met. In contexts where there is a consciousness but no pressure, the share of women is usually no larger than one third. At the third level, there is no aspiration for change and no pressure.
“There are those who are still banging their heads against the wall in a situation with only 10 per cent women.”
According to Anita Göransson, it is time to abandon the gender balance objective of a minimum of 40 per cent of each gender. In practice, the result is rarely 40 per cent men and 60 per cent women, but almost always the opposite. When the goal of 40 per cent women has been reached, there is no going further. It all looks like a result of minimal adaptation rather than chance.
“A few years ago, the goal 50/50 was set for state authorities. This should be a reasonable aspiration in all areas of society.”
Political representation
Share of women/men, in percentages
| Denmark |
Iceland |
Finland | Norway |
Sweden |
|
| Government |
35/65 |
33/67 |
40/60 |
53/47 |
41/59 |
| Parliament |
37/63 |
33/67 |
42/58 | 38/62 |
47/53 |
| Municipalities | 27/73 |
32/68 |
36/64 |
37/63 |
42/58 |
Sources: www.government.is, www.regjeringen.no, www.regeringen.se, www.folketinget.dk, www.althingi.is, www.stortinget.no, www.riksdagen.se, Statistics Denmark, Statistics Finland, Statistics Iceland, Statistics Norway and Statistics Sweden.
This article has been published in NIKK magasin 1 2009 © NIKK
