Hi guys,
in the link you can find a short statement about current developments about passing the woman quota in Europe.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10378585/EU-quota-for-40pc-of-women-on-boards-moves-step-closer.html
According to this statement the legislation about it could be passed aftr the European elections in 2014, so already in some years four out of every ten management positions could be taken by women.
What is your opinion about the women quota? Do you see it from the positive point of view, that women are encouraged to take management positions?
Or do you rather see the negative side; e.g. positive discrimination?
Wouldn't it also be expensive for many European companies if this quota was introduced?
Looking forward to a discussion.
Lisa
Hey Lisa,
AntwortenLöschenThank you very much for posting this article on such an interesting and highly controversial topic. As far as the women quota is concerned, I am still rather double-minded as I definitely see the need of taking clear action in this direction but do not actually believe that it should be under a pressure and force of such a legal implementation.
Indeed, the women quota is the quickest and probably most effective way of increasing the female rate in management positions. However, what I think could constitute a big downside is the fact that management positions might not be filled anymore on the basis of qualifications but rather in respect of the gender of the potential candidate – at least and even more so in the introduction phase of such a quota.
In my opinion, females rather want to be appointed deliberately and not (merely) thanks/due to legislation that forces HR managers to do so. However, such an obligation might also give women, who have always wanted to take such a position but were not given the chance to do so, to reach their goal.
Finally, analyzing current figures, a rate of 40 % of female managers seems very optimistic to me with respect to the current statistics of around 9 % in Austria. An increase to 40 % might indeed constitute a very costly measure.
Finally, with regard to Austria, I actually do not think that a women quota would be the solution to the real “problem” in Austria. In my opinion, the reason for such a low female rate in management is more the fact that women decide in favor of their family rather than for pursuing their career. After having been away from their jobs for up to several years on maternity leave once they return their opportunities with children are limited when seeking to balance job, family and kids. (There might, of course, be examples where this works very well, however, in my opinion, this is still more the exception and for some females not even desirable.)
To be honest, I am not a fan of such quota. As Anita already pointed out, it is a quick possibility of finding a resolution of the issue, however, it is probably not an appropriate or sustainable one.
AntwortenLöschenManagement positions (or in fact any other vacancies) should not be filled on the basis of obligatory quotas but rather as a result of thoroughly assessing and evaluating possible candidates' qualifications and competences.
Quotas constitute a high risk of "positive discrimination", thus the hiring of women to staff vacant positions for which they are actually not appropriately qualified (except that their gender is female) or for which a male candidate (with superior qualifications) would be more suitable.
Obliging companies to fulfill such ratios is therefore not the right way in order to render the still unequal career opportunities more balanced.
Eventually, if management positions were filled with the wrong people (aka female applicants with inferior qualifications) this would have a massive negative (economic) impact on each and every company constrained to meet the EU quota of 40% by 2020.
On the other hand, some female top-performers might see this quota regulation as their chance to finally break the glass ceiling, to overcome the gender barriers and to eventually realize their desired professional careers.
Personally, I would rather prefer to be able to be sure of having been hired due to my qualifications and competences rather than owing to the fact that the company which I applied for still needs "a couple of women in order to satisfy the EU".
Anita mentioned in her comment above, that in her opinion, a reason for such low rates of females in management positions is their proper decision to have a family rather than to pursue a professional career. That might be true to a certain extent, but actually, I am convinced that if women were given the opportunity, much more would strive for both simultaneously - kids and career.
However, here an example of the complete opposit:
In a similar discussion on our blog a couple of weeks ago I already mentioned that the division in which I was completing my PTS is one of the only two (out of 35) divisions which have a female manager directly reporting to the board of management.
The woman leading my division is in her mid-40s, married and childless. She for instance decided against kids in order to be able to pursue her career. Not, because she was afraid she would not be able to find the right balance between job and kids but because she rather saw herself in a top-management position than leaving work earlier every day to pick up her kids from school. Even if the company had supported her more intensively, she would not have opted for kids.
To come back to one of the initial questions, and again I am agreeing with Anita, a quota of 40% of females in management positions will definitely be highly cost-intensive to fulfill for European companies. However, it might be even more expensive to fill these positions with women even though they are underqulified.
Dear Ulrike and Anita,
AntwortenLöschenreading your comments, I have to admit that I am completely sharing your opinion on this issue. I, and I guess many of our colleagues would much much more prefer to be hired because of my qualifications and not just because I am a woman.
I do also see that a women quota could have a negative impact on Europe's businesses as management positions might be filled by inferior managers.
Maybe the solution really doesn't lie within a women quota but more within offering more opportunity for a balanced career - career with work. So noone would need to choose and in the end women get fairer chances for climbing up the career ladder.
I also share your opinion and believe that the quota isn't the best solution. If I'd be hired just because of the quota, I certainly wouldn't feel good about it and wouldn't be really happy with my new job. Moreover as you already stated before the quota might lead to filling management positions with less qualified staff just to adhere to the quota.
AntwortenLöschenBut on the other hand, it is not deniable, that women are in a less favorable situation in the business world than man. If two equally qualified candidates (a man and a woman) apply for a job, I'm pretty sure that the man gets it. And it's even kind of understandable. Keeping in mind, that a woman might be gone for up to two years due to maternity leave and then might want to work part-time only, a man is certainly more profitable and efficient for a company. Therefore, it's for sure harder for women to get into management positions than for men and without a quota this situation might be impossible to change.
So, to be honest, I'm not quite sure, whether the situation will get better or worse with the quota. But at least this topic gets attention due discussions and arguments and maybe some companies will change their general hiring policy consequently.
From my perspective this topic was discussed very intensely for years and for example in Nordic countries good results were achieved and I would say that definitely when you live there you can feel so desirable by all gender equality.
AntwortenLöschenI experienced both sides of the coin. On one hand Russia where man rule and on the other hand Finland where women dictate the rules. I truly can tell that both cases do not feel healthy.
From my point of view there should be balance but it should be natural where both men and women feel comfortable with their rights. So the quota is not the best solution.