Norway Imposes Quota for Top Women In Business

In a revolutionary move that has delighted unions and outraged big business, the Norwegian government ordered companies to ensure that at least 40 per cent of their board members are women.

State-owned firms have been given one year to comply while the country's 650 major private companies have three years. The government plans to back up their decree with legislation.

The announcement has infuriated the country's employers' federation, which says the decree may make Norway uncompetitive. It also fears that foreign firms may be discouraged from setting up operations in Norway due to the quota regulations.

Companies disagree with government pressure

Sigrun Vageng, of the federation's equality department, agreed too few women were reaching boardroom level but said companies should be allowed to resolve the problem of their own accord.

"We don't think the solution is having a new law," Vageng told a press conference. "It should be up to shareholders to decide whether or not women are appointed to boardroom positions."

Women make up a mere 7 per cent of the country's boardroom elite although the European average is still only two per cent.

Even though Norway prides itself on being one of the world's most egalitarian societies, calls from successive governments to improve the situation in the country's boardrooms have come to naught. The push for further reforms has led to the tough new stance.

Minister threatens legislation if 40 per cent is not met

"If they don't succeed the law will be changed," said Martin Bernsen, spokesman for Laila Davoy, the Minister for Children and Family Affairs. "The minister is very angry about the current situation."

In a scenario that is all too familiar in many industrialised countries, the profile of Norway's power brokers shows the typical board member to be male, over 55 years of age and from a background in law and economics.

Boardroom opportunities mainly fall to members of the same 'old boy network', something the Norwegians want to change.

'Not enough qualified women', protest companies

Protests from many companies hinge on the claim that they will not be able to find enough suitably qualified women to fill 40 per cent of boardroom posts. Bernsen says government research has shown otherwise.

"We have proven that there are lots of educated, highly qualified women out there with the right experience. But firms have to go and look for them," he said in a question and answer session with the international press.

Trade unions in Norway, who have lobbied for female quotas for the past 20 years, said they were delighted with the new decree.

"Companies need to be forced to hire more women or else they won't do it and if things were left as they are today, it would be a hundred years before we have women making up 40 per cent of company boards," said Mie Opdordsmoen of LO, the country's biggest union, in Britain's Guardian newspaper.

Informal gender quotas have existed in Norway since 1981 when the country's first female Prime Minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland, took power.

Since then, women have held around 40 per cent of government posts. It is this level that has prompted the push for the figure to be adopted and enforced across the business landscape.

European equality progress has been slow and uneven

However, in other countries in Europe, while women gradually increase their share of managerial work and positions, one thing has remained clear: the rate of change has been slow and the pace of progress uneven.

In 2002, 30 per cent of managers in the EU's 15 member states were female. In 1992, when the EU consisted of 11 member states, 29.5 per cent of managers were female.

In Germany, DaimerChrysler has introduced a so-called "soft" women quota whereas Shell has committed itself to raise the number of women in managing positions to 20 per cent.

Other companies, such as Lufthansa, Deutsche Bank, Telekom, Bosch and Procter & Gamble have, in the past years, built up an extensive combined mentoring programme for women.

While some businesses wake up to equality, in some sectors the number of women managers is still low.

According to a recent survey by the International Data Corporation, France is one of the leading countries in the computer technology field – with a percentage of 9.1 per cent. But in Austria, however, a mere 4.1 per cent has taken over leading roles in this future market.