GIRNE, 8th APRIL – WORKSHOP No. 2 - JOB - ECONOMIC STABILITY AND GROWTH: MORE WOMEN IN SENIOR POSITIONS. ROLE AND PROMOTION STRATEGIES OF INNER WHEEL

1. WOMEN FOR EUROPE – THE ROLE
2011
OF INNER WHEEL
Luisa Vinciguerra
LUISA VINCIGUERRA GIRNE, 8th APRIL – WORKSHOP No. 2 - JOB -
PAST PRESIDENT NATIONAL
ECONOMIC STABILITY AND GROWTH: MORE
COUNCIL
INNER WHEEL ITALY WOMEN IN SENIOR POSITIONS. ROLE AND
PROMOTION STRATEGIES OF INNER WHEEL
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
RESPONSIBLE
PROJECT “WOMEN FOR EUROPE”
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2. Luisa Vinciguerra
ECONOMIC STABILITY AND GROWTH: MORE WOMEN IN SENIOR POSITIONS.
ROLE AND PROMOTION STRATEGIES OF INNER WHEEL
(in the 1° sub-theme: The position of women from past to the present in the economy).
1. ECONOMY, GENDER, ...AND THE PROJECT'S MISSION
The numerous reports and documents and statistical enquiries which are frequently
analysed to reveal the main developments in the field of gender equality which
have been recorded over the last few years highlight the challenges and the future
directional policies of the EU. Some important documents have been attached to
the current work and reference is made to them also in the bibliography. Official
documents, the reading of which helps in understanding the current situation on the
existing relationship between women, the economy and high ranking positions.
I personally, having participated from the beginning in the Project, always feel that
the main requirement for continuing the research and the definition of the role of the
Inner Wheel can and must to be faithful to its mission of the Project, beautiful in my
opinion "A EUROPE FOR WOMEN, WOMEN FOR EUROPE: THE ROLE OF THE INNER WHEEL",
and the achievement of the objectives connected to it.
In the details of my paper, the theme, in the context of work, of economic stability
and growth, of the positions of prestige reserved for Women, should generate a huge
interest and greater awareness in the Inner Wheel Members of the European
Countries, which have a medium high social-cultural target, are cultured and active
in their professions, and have been and are also the protagonists of this season in
which the European Union has dedicated constant attention to such problematic
themes.
Certainly Economics has been one of the last, amongst the social sciences, to
develop a gender approach, so much that the marginalisation of women in the
discipline of Economics has influenced both the content and the objectives of the
discipline. Only in more recent years has growing attention been given to the
problem of access of women to retributive work, to the problems of female work, and
the European Strategy for Employment has established the objective of increasing
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female employment rate and of promoting equal opportunity (removing the existing
inequalities).
Between gender and economic development there exists a less simple and linear tie
than that which the policy maker and academic economists often make transpire.
Giving power to women, in the sense of giving them possibilities of gaining access to
precious benefits such as culture, education or participation in political life, can
accelerate the economic growth of a Country, even if economic development does
not eliminate inequality completely.
2.ECONOMIC STABILITY AND GROWTH: MORE WOMEN IN SENIOR POSITIONS.
Although women in Europe represent an increasingly high proportion of the labour
market, they remain considerably under-represented in top management, including
in economic and social decision-making bodies.
They continue to be under-represented in senior positions in many fields despite the
fact that they make up nearly half of the workforce and more than half of new
university graduates in the EU. Today, only one out of 10 board members of the
largest companies listed on the national stock exchange of EU Member States is a
woman and progress has been slow in recent years. The disparity is widest at the very
top where only 3% of such companies have a woman directing the highest decision-
making body. We have to deplore that women’s talents are not being tapped to
their full potential. If Europe is to achieve its goal of becoming a dynamic and
competitive knowledge-based economy in a globalised world then we have to make
better use of women’s talents and skills.
De facto equality between women and men is far from being a reality, also in so far
as access to employment and promotion are concerned. This objective, which is a
matter not only of democracy, social justice and respect for fundamental rights but
also of sound economic governance, cannot be achieved without a political
impetus and resolve which have so far been conspicuous by their absence.
Women’s limited access to top management and decision-making posts is the result
of multiple forms of discrimination to which they are exposed throughout their lives. In
order to redress this state of affairs, radical changes in society should be promoted, in
order to eradicate the tendency to conceive stereotyped gender roles, which
confine women to subordinate posts and preclude them from accessing sectors
which are erroneously considered as men’s strongholds.
To achieve equal opportunities and treatment between women and men in
employment, it is not only necessary to set up and effectively implement far-reaching
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and comprehensive anti-discrimination policies, but also to introduce progressive
measures to enable women to reconcile family and professional
responsibilities without having to choose between them. In addition, positive
measures should be envisaged to help women break through the glass ceiling which
holds them back in the area of professional competition.
3.SITUATION IN VARIOUS SECTOR:
A. THE CALL OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
B. EUROPEAN COMMISSION ADOPTED NEW STRATEGY ON GENDER EQUALITY
However we analyze the data, it is evident that:
 Too few women in the highest posts in politics
 Too few women leaders in the public service
 Too few women in decision-making posts in major companies
 Too few women leaders in political parties and trade unions
Recently, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called on member
states to:
 take strong and resolute action to combat gender discrimination in education
and employment;
 introduce progressive measures to ensure reconciliation of private and working
life, in particular as regards parental leave, balanced participation of women
and men in family life, flexible work arrangements, leave for family reasons,
protection of workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding,
reintegration in the work market for women who left it to take care of family
members, including the obligation for the employer to retrain the person
concerned, and availability of childcare for working parents;
 take prompt action to encourage employers to tackle the gender salary gap,
as recommended in Assembly Resolution 1715 (2010) on the wage gap
between women and men;
 encourage action against gender stereotypes in education, at all levels, and
at work and promote training on gender equality in schools and public
administration;
 support the preparation and implementation of training programmes and
databases geared to supporting women in their professional careers and in
access to top management and decision-making posts in the public and
private sectors;
 encourage women's networking initiatives and exchanges of good practices in
this field;
 ensure that the gender dimension is included in all calls for public tender;
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 award Equality Labels to actors encouraging recruitment of women and
establishing support programmes for women’s careers;
 promote the feminisation of post titles;
 set an example by adopting action plans aimed at improving the
representation of women in decision-making bodies in all branches of
administration, at local, regional and central levels, as well as in state-owned
companies;
 introduce the obligation for state-owned and large private companies to
guarantee a minimum 40% of representation of women on their governing and
management boards;
 implement the Action Plan “Taking up the Challenge of the Achievement of de
jure and de facto Gender Equality” adopted by the Ministers responsible for
Equality between Women and Men at the 7th Council of Europe Ministerial
Conference (Baku, 24-25 May 2010).
The Assembly called on Council of Europe member states to encourage companies,
firms and associations operating in the private and voluntary sectors to:
 promote women success models at the different hierarchical levels and
decision-making structures;
 promote career plans for women;
 establish far-reaching equal opportunities policies and organise annual
gender-equality audits;
 set up effective measures to combat sexual harassment at work;
 introduce rules aimed at ensuring balanced representation of women and men
in top management and decision-making bodies, guaranteeing a minimum
40% representation of women on governing and supervisory boards.
The measures to ensure balanced representation of women in top management
could be: Gender quotas, Promoting exemplarity, Enabling women to reconcile
family and professional life, Influencing attitudes… But, it would be difficult to impose
one single method of achieving the objective of balanced representation of women
and men in economic and social decision-making bodies and top management
given the wide variety of situations; some countries have only just set changes in
motion, others have undertaken radical reforms or are about to achieve the
objective.
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B. EUROPEAN COMMISSION ADOPTED NEW STRATEGY ON GENDER EQUALITY
The European Commission adopted a five-year strategy for promoting equality
between women and men in Europe. The strategy aims in particular to make better
use of women's potential, thereby contributing to the EU's overall economic and
social goals. It translates the principles set out in the European Commission's Women's
Charter (see IP/10/237) into specific measures, ranging from getting more women into
company boardrooms to tackling gender-based violence. Meanwhile, a new
Eurobarometer survey shows 87% of Europeans support EU action to tackle domestic
violence. One out of four knows someone who has been a victim of such violence.
The gender equality strategy adopted by the European Commission today spells out a
series of actions based around five priorities: the economy and labour market; equal
pay; equality in senior positions; tackling gender violence; and promoting equality
beyond the EU. They include:
 Getting more women into the labour market and helping to reach the Europe
2020 target employment rate of 75% overall for women and men. (see
IP/10/225);
 Putting forward targeted initiatives to get more women into top jobs in economic
decision-making;
 Promoting female entrepreneurship and self employment;
 Instituting an annual European Equal Pay Day to raise awareness of the fact that
women continue to earn an average of nearly 18% less than men across the
EU;
 Working together with all Member States in combating violence against women,
especially eradicating female genital mutilation in Europe and beyond.
THE KEY OF SUCCESS
The key to success is a new collective awareness which would enable a strong
political will to firmly support a change of attitudes in both women and men.
Balanced access of women to managerial and decision-making posts, including in
the socio-economic field, would be a genuine qualitative leap forward towards
achieving de facto equality between women and men in society.
The member states of the Council of Europe should take forceful positive action to
improve women’s access to decision-making bodies, including economic and social
ones. Introducing a legal obligation on large companies to have a minimum 40%
quota of women on their governing or management boards – drawing on the
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Norwegian model – could be an appropriate measure to ensure that we can take
this qualitative leap.
The Commission will also set up a yearly top-level Gender Equality Dialogue involving
the European Parliament, the Council presidencies, European social partners and civil
society to assess progress in implementing the strategy.
4.ROLE AND PROMOTION STRATEGIES OF INNER WHEEL: PROMOTING AWARENESS,
PROMOTING EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP.
The Inner Wheel can do a great deal in this context.
The Inner Wheel has a ROLE.
I’m convinced that the “social gried” Inner Wheel should seriously TAKE ACTION and
DEVOTE ATTENTION to these issues, which concern women in their respective
countries.
In order to reach a full achievement of all the objectives included, one can
undeniably assert that the path will still be a long one.
The Inner Wheel Women must become more aware, and then, transmit their renewed
awareness through Club or District initiatives, as a cultural service.
The Inner Wheel must always be active, as a Service Club, within the European Union,
next to all the other NGOs (organisations and female associations) which represent
the world of Women and which can bring an extra value to the development of
programmes to Women, in a broad and dedicated sense.
The information campaigns and sensitisation actions are some of the activities which
Inner Wheel, united with other organisations committed in the sector, should promote
in order to achieve the Project's objectives.
Members are precious human resources. Not only are they constantly committed to
service in Developing Countries, protagonists and witnesses to the dialogue between
North and South, but they can, with their associated efforts, get involved and make
their mark in a concrete way in the social processes of the community in which they
operate. The work of Inner Wheel is in fact also a work involving relationships, to help
to understand and promote awareness and promotion of European citizenship.
Awareness
It would be important to pose a certain number of background questions:
What relations do women maintain with the EU and what are their expectations of
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the EU?
What role do they ascribe to the Europe, and what role would they like to see it play?
The link between women and the EU is weaker than between men and the EU.
Today, women do not sense what the role of the EU is, as well as its relevance to their
specific concerns. They have little interest in it and have less knowledge of it than
men. This would explain why women perceive the EU as distant.
Towards the role of Inner Wheel, if we can we manage to break the vicious circle,
women will better understand the pertinence of the EU, have a greater interest and
better knowledge of it, and feel closer to it.
The challenge is immense but feasible.
First of all, in demonstrating to women that the EU efficiently contributes to combating
the crisis.
All the statistical elements reveal the fragility of women in relation to the crisis. Above
all, this is the result of persistent inequalities in the economic sphere, the most
pertinent of which are unequal pay, inequality in employment matters, and difficulty
in reconciling professional and family life.
Furthermore, in listening to women when they seek a more united Europe, inside and
outside of its borders
The surveys demonstrate that, for the most part, European women would like to see a
more social European Union.
If the European Union is perceived as remote and distant in their eyes, it is because
the Union does not sufficiently communicate its policies in which European women
could feel engaged and involved.
If:
Women feel the EU isn’t very relevant to them
Women have less interest in the EU
Women know less about the EU
Women feel the EU is distant from them
This situation results from various factors:
1. On average women have a lower level of economic security than men.
2. Women are more interested in national and local rather than European politics.
3. Although women perceive the EU as remote, they know the EU is important
4. They expect a different European Union. Even though a majority of them support
community policies, their support is lower than men's. However, they want a Europe
with a substantial social agenda.
Inner Wheel should discuss these issues within the Association, spread documents and
news, to ensure that:
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Women feel the EU is relevant to them
Women have more interest in the EU
Women know more about the EU
Women feel close to the EU
It is not, and will not be easy. However I am hopeful that there will be a concrete,
positive final outcome; a positive outcome which will be determined - also in large
measure - by the same evolution which our Association will have and how we Inner
Wheel Women and Citizens of Europe, will know how to commit ourselves in that
sense, both within the Association and also towards other Women beyond our
Association.
Luisa Vinciguerra
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ECONOMIC STABILITY AND GROWTH: MORE WOMEN IN SENIOR
POSITIONS. ROLE AND PROMOTION STRATEGIES OF INNER WHEEL
BY LUISA VINCIGUERRA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MORE WOMEN IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DECISION-MAKING BODIES
Report, Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, Rapporteur: Ms Gisèle GAUTIER, France, Group of the
European People’s Party
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-2015
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT
Actions to implement the Strategy for Equality between Women and Men 2010-2015
Accompanying the
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
Strategy for Equality between Women and Men 2010-2015
EUROPE FOR WOMEN
EUROPEAN UNION
Directorate General for Communication Publications
1049 Brussels, BELGIUM, 2009
NUMEROUS INEQUALITIES EXIST TODAY FOR THE WOMEN OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
EIGE European Institute for Gender Equality
MORE WOMEN IN SENIOR POSITIONS
European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities
Unit G, Manuscript completed in January 2010
© European Union, 2010
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2010
ISBN 978-92-79-14415-8
Further information:
- Report "More women in senior positions – key to economic stability and growth"
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=762&langId=en&furtherPubs=yes
- Database on women and men in decision-making
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=764&langId=en
- "A Strengthened Commitment to Equality between Women and Men" – A Women's Charter"
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=726&furtherNews=yes
- Eurobarometer – Gender Equality in the EU
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb_special_en.htm
- Video News Release I-060553: Women to the top
http://www.tvlink.org/mediadetails.php?key=a5daf1c5f0eed1f9627a&title=Women+to+the+top&titleleft=Employment
150 ANNI DALL’UNITÀ D’ITALIA: alla rincorsa della parità tra sorelle e fratelli d’Italia
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Rapporto Manageritalia – Gruppo Donne Manager, (17 marzo 2011)
EVALUATION ON POLICY: PROMOTION OF WOMEN INNOVATORS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
DG ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Final Report submitted by the E E C (GHK, Technopolis), within the framework of ENTR/04/093-FC-Lot 1, Date: 25 July
2008
INNER WHEEL CURRICULUM OF LUISA VINCIGUERRA
Luisa Vinciguerra graduated in Pedagogy (Facoltà di Magistero of the University of Turin).
From 1993 she has been member of the Inner Wheel, where she has covered,
over the years, various duties including being President of the National Council
of the Italian Inner Wheel in the year 2005-2006.
She founded, in the year 1996, the Inner Wheel Literary Prize Europe, of which
she is President.
Currently she is the Responsible of International Relations in the long-
term International Project (2008/2013) Women for Europe – The Role of
Inner Wheel of the Luisa Bruni Naples Club (District 210), editing also
the Acts of the Convention of the same name in November 2008.
From 2009 Luisa Vinciguerra is a member of the Rotary Global History
Fellowship
She published “THE INNER WHEEL SPIRIT” in September 2010.
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