Not Afraid to Fight for Corporate Equality - Building Gender Balanced Business

In her position as vice president in charge of gender equality for the European Commission, Luxembourg’s Viviane Reding is not afraid to take on male-dominated corporations and governments in an effort to strike gender balance in the boardroom and beyond.

Many European countries now have targets or quotas to help increase female representation in the boardroom

But, if these companies fail to follow through, Reding is prepared to attempt to correct the imbalance through European Union legislation

Reding previously took on the male-dominated telecommunications industry; when they failed to take her seriously, she introduced regulation that forced them into line

One of her goals is to see 40% female boardroom representation by 2020
Current EU statistics are not encouraging: – From 2000 to 2009, the percentage of female business leaders only increased from 30.7% to 32.8%

- Typically, in top companies, a board consisting of 10 people includes only one woman (and 97% of those boards are headed by a man)

- Women are also underrepresented amongst trade union leadership

- If progress continues at this rate, there won’t be a reasonable gender balance for another 50 years

If companies are to make this change, Reding advises that they have an active approach to promoting and mentoring woman and that they install women in top positions

“It’s not enough to have one woman. You need to have a group.”— Viviane Reding

Non-EU country Norway shows the greatest gender balance with 40% of board members at the biggest companies being women; this has been accomplished through legislation requiring balanced representation

Both the use of legislation and quotas to accomplish these goals remain controversial and divisive issues

Reding likes to point out to companies that it is in their own best interest to have better female representation in their ranks, citing that women make 4 out of 5 consumer purchasing decisions

“It’s a huge advantage to be a woman, because those people have never negotiated with a woman. You take them so much by surprise and, when they realize what has been going on, you have already won the whole thing.”— Viviane Reding

Click here to read the full article in The New York Time by Stephen Castle