Until when will we celebrate International Women’s Day? The answer is simple – until we achieve equality between women and men. However, many of us will not experience this in our lifetime, as research indicates that gender equality in the European Union will only be achieved at this pace in 60 years. To accelerate this progress, the effort of all stakeholders in society is needed, and not just one day a year.
The fact is that women are offered fewer business opportunities than men, and when they do get them, many are forced to choose between career and family. Nevertheless, investors no longer want to invest in companies that lack women in management and director positions. Did you know that women, due to their pronounced empathy, are the main drivers of actions to combat climate change? And that companies led by women respond better to crises? Yet, statistics still indicate their inequality with men.
These are all topics that were discussed today, on International Women’s Day, at the conference Economy Without Prejudices – Strengthening the Economy by Empowering Women organized by the Croatian Employers’ Association and the International Network of Business Women. The introduction to the conference was made by psychologist Sandra Šućurović, who encouraged the women present to not be afraid to realize their potential and turn it into a business.
– Try to listen to your heart. Potential is not talent; we do not need to have talent to realize our potential, but what we must have is the will to achieve something, to set small steps towards it, and to be persistent and unburdened by others’ opinions. Potential means being the best version of yourself – explained the psychologist, reflecting on the negative prejudices that women often impose on themselves, such as insecurity that they are ‘not good enough’ for a certain position.
Investors want equality
The number of women in entrepreneurship has significantly increased since the 1990s, and women have gained more rights since then, emphasized Ivana Radić, a business therapist and president of the International Network of Business Women. However, the pandemic and wars are hindering women in their rights.
– It is true that men have more courage. Women, when put in a situation where they must be brave, find that courage – said Radić.
Ivana Gažić, who became the CEO of the Zagreb Stock Exchange 12 years ago when she had the opportunity to ‘reconcile’ two quarreling male sides as a woman, advised women to dare, to try, and not to be afraid to be in director positions, just as she was not afraid to take that position at a time when she had just given birth to a child. The financial industry, Gažić added, has found an answer to gender inequality.
– Investors today do not want to invest in companies where men dominate in management, nor where women dominate, but they want equality and check the status in management. The world is changing, and soon women will be in short supply in leadership positions as everyone will want women at the top. It is up to us to prepare women for those positions – emphasized Gažić, noting that women need to be given more opportunities, encouraged, and given a voice.
Everyone is responsible
—
—According to the latest data from the European Institute for Gender Equality, the share of women in management of the most significant companies on stock exchanges in the European Union is 31.3 percent, while Croatia lags behind the European average by almost 18 percentage points. The representation of women in politics according to the current composition of the Parliament is the same as last year (31.3 percent) and is comparable to the share of women in the politics of EU countries (33.3 percent), states Selectio Group. However, it is concerning that women continue to be the least represented in science, with only 12.5 percent in the regular membership of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
