Progressing the mission to create equal opportunities for women

The BBC’s Tanya Beckett moderated a discussion on women who want to take or have already taken their business into premises and women who are at the board level of multinational companies, a number that is currently only 12 per cent worldwide.

Panel members included Cherie Blair QC, founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and an established and successful barrister. Blair opened the discussion by observing that men of the previous generation “…abandoned nurture, whereas men of today want more of a say in their children’s lives, and unless we acknowledge this we will end up with a dysfunctional society.”

She went on to make a case for the sound business sense of investing in women. If women get stuck in middle management, as statistically is so often the case, the investment in their training and education is wasted. Their presence at the top level of business contributes to the diversity that has a positive impact on the profit and sustainability of businesses.

Blair cited her own experience in the 1970s in the UK, where as a young lawyer who had just come first in her bar exams, she was turned down for a position at a law firm in favour of a less well-qualified male candidate, who himself even agreed that she was the better lawyer.

She managed to get a position with a firm eventually, and remains a successful lawyer to this day. However the male candidate gave up law, ending up as Prime Minister of Britain. He was of course, Tony Blair, whom she subsequently married.

Lucille Yu, President and CEO of Simula Technology, has had 30 years of experience in business. Tanya Beckett asked her to outline what it is like to be in charge of a technology-based industrial corporation with a workforce of over 2,200 across Taipei China and China.

Her challenges are remarkably banal for a person with such a high level of success in her life and show the work that is still to be done in challenging preconceptions about women. They include the male exclusivity of business networking in a social context, with Yu describing how hard it is to integrate into the traditionally male tendency to combine business with pleasure, for example as a female member of a golf club or at a dinner party.

In her home country of Taipei China, Yu describes a tendency for friends and even family to “punish” a women who is successful in business and to drive them away emotionally. The picture is far from entirely bleak, however, as in Yu’s opinion women in Taipei China are strong enough to take on this challenge with the country having a significant level of women in the top levels of businesses.

Raushan Sarsembayeva, President of the Association of Business Women of Kazakhstan, describes a situation of non-overt discrimination in her country. The imperative there in recent times for women to start a business is often economic hardship and a drive to support their families. However it is seen as “slightly unnatural” for women to be handling business and they continue to be perceived as the weaker gender.

One outcome of this is that in cases of corruption investigations blame will often end up with female staff members. In addition women experience more obstacles to obtaining premises for their small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Women and business people in general in Kazakhstan find that the 56 entities and agencies that control and inspect small businesses in Kazakhstan create distractions and impediments.

Similar to Taipei China the situation for women in Kazakhstan is not without positives. Sarsembayeva held Kazakhstan up as a success story in the region and applauded the support of initiatives including the introduction of a legal framework for the increased inclusion of women into business by the Prime Minister Karim Masimov.

The panel agreed unanimously that governments, politicians and business leaders have a role to play. Governments should encourage the idea that women can do business by developing women’s capacity and confidence. Access to finance is a key issue which can be addressed by banks and institutions responding to women’s needs for longer-term, cheaper loans.

The thorny issue of quotas, the system by which there is a requirement for a certain number of women on the board of companies to make them legally valid, was addressed in detail by the panel. On the whole it was agreed that they provide role models but there is a risk that women will attain senior positions when there is a better male candidate.

Education is one unequivocal method of achieving parity for women. This includes ensuring people understand what the problems are that women face. In addition educating businesses on the benefits of diversity including the inclusion of women at board level is vital. Lastly, asserted Dominic Bruynseels, CEO of Banca Comerciala Romana, if change is slow to emerge it comes down to putting political pressure on businesses.

The event then took a turn for the celebratory and inspirational, as Jan Fischer, Vice President, Operational Policies, presented the Women in Business Awards. Recognition for Outstanding Achievement was given across three categories: banking, entrepreneurship and industry.

Alexandra Volchenko won the award in the banking category for her achievements as VP of OJSC Promsvyazbank. Jadranka Boban Pejic, CEO of Biovega d.o.o. won the award for Outstanding Excellence in entrepreneurship, presented by Dr Werner Weihs-Raabl, Head of Financial Institutions, Erste Group.

The final winner was Valentina Taseva, MD of Semos Education, for Outstanding Achievement in industry, in recognition of the rapid and resilient growth of her company since she joined.  

Watch a video of Cherie Blair talking about the EBRD and women in business

Winner's stories: Alexandra Volchenko, First Vice President of OJSC Promsuyazbank, Russia

Winner's stories:Jadranka Boban Pejic, Chief Executive Officer of Biovega, Croatia

 

Last updated 25 May 2011