W2T in Danmark

While Denmark, like the other Nordic countries, can be proud of the considerable progress made towards gender equality, the situation for women in management is a black spot. A mere 4 per cent of managing directors and 7 per cent of business directors in private companies are women. Figures for the public sector are not much better. The dearth of women managers is in striking contrast to the fact that women make up 46 per cent of the total workforce in Denmark and that young women are generally better educated than men. The low proportion of women in management also means a systematically poor use of resources and a systematic loss of talent. This is true of business companies in particular and society in general.

That is why the W2T project in Denmark also aims to boost the number of women recruited to top management. The project activities in Denmark are run by the Danish Research Centre on Gender Equality (www.celi.dk) at Roskilde University (CeLi). In line with the partners in the other countries, the activities have two aims:

- Acquire, promote and broaden methods, research and good practice
- Raise the awareness of key actors and initiate activities at company level to increase the number of women in top management.

The measures are mainly aimed at the private and the public sectors. The project is especially applicable to the world of banking and finance, the IT sector, potential top managers, international recruitment agencies and the media. However, all other companies and organisations, as well as top management candidates, can draw inspiration and ideas from the meetings and seminars held and the tools discussed.

The project has capacity for some 50 companies, from which one decision-maker and one female candidate for top management will take part in two seminars held between November 2004 and January 2005. Here, they will be introduced to various tools that they will be encouraged to test and to give opinions on. For example, the project is developing a number of checklists for employers, HR recruitment agencies and female candidates for top management. These checklists will initially be used to guide the participating companies, and in the longer term will be publicly available. Apart from the seminars, the top management candidates will also be part of a professional network that will function as a springboard and a source of support later in their careers. Finally, the project will invite a number of recruitment agencies to be part of the focus group that will see what can be done on the part of recruiters to ensure more top women managers.

At the end of the summer, CeLi will be writing to a large number of private and public organisations, inviting them to join the activities. Obviously, CeLi welcomes contact from any quarter.

Women to the Top in Denmark is run and coordinated by project manager Karen Sjørup and project assistant Lea Drews.