Editorial: One step forward and two steps back?

Denmark has chosen a female prime minster for the first time, but when Finland has chosen men both as president and prime minister not even that improves the balance of power in the Nordic region. One step forward and two steps back, it seems.

Iceland’s Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir has managed to change things. She puts it bluntly: Before the economic crisis hit Iceland, society there was governed according to male values. A small elite held power. Now power is more equally divided. “It is sometimes said that things would look different if women had been in power before the crash.” 

We didn’t ask Manu Sareen, Minister for Equality in Denmark as well as in the EU right now, whether he agrees with Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. But he told Nordic Labour Journal he intends to turbo-charge the work for gender equality both in Denmark and in Europe. He wants to fight violence against women and a gender divided labour market, but he does not want quotas.

Sweden too focuses on women and the labour market. For many years the  government has fought to support, develop and highlight women’s entrepreneurship. But it’s important to keep an eye on the ball. Our report shows Swedish entrepreneurship risks mirroring the gender segregated labour market.

There’s a lively debate on women, power and positions, especially when it comes to board representation in big companies. Only one in ten board members is a woman, says the OECD. EU commissioner Viviane Reding has run out of patience. She will introduce boardroom gender quotas if the companies can’t sort it out themselves. 

Yet there are some positive developments: the chairman of Carlsberg’s executive board, Povl Krogsgaard-Larsen, wants to take the number of women on the board from zero to 40 percent. He is convinced women board members will help the bottom line, and says “any group works best when both sexes are represented”. But he strongly opposes legally binding quotas. 

Legally binding quotas is what has made Norway an example to follow for many countries. The law on boardroom gender quotas backed by effective sanctions has so far given the best results. “The gender quota law is a resounding success,” says our expert. So maybe two steps forward and...