Study on non-legislative initiatives for companies to promote gender ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

140 Gender equality initiatives promised to the winners and to the subject of gender equality. However, this motivational effect could and should be better enforced especially for enterprises which are interested in gender equality only recently or which have no systematic approach to the subject. This could be done by creating prizes for “newcomers”, which have put in practice equality measures only recently and in specific areas and which have not yet implemented a sophisticated equality plan. This is to avoid an unequal competition where these firms would have to compare with enterprises which are traditionally active in the field. Such prizes could also be suitable to motivate SMEs for participation as they often cannot implement gender equality measures in such a broad and formalised way as large enterprises. The next step can be made through a label, as it aims at a sustainable organisational change and is highly process-oriented. An enterprise starting the labelling process does not need to have implemented a broad equality plan but should express its commitment to design and implement appropriate measures to promote gender equality (in the framework of such an equality plan) and its willingness to undergo an analysis of its status quo and to formulate equality objectives with the help of external experts. The label represents, on the one hand, recognition of the efforts and, on the other hand, commits the enterprise to further improve its gender equality activities. Finally, enterprises which have already implemented a broad range of complementary instruments and actively aspire to act as role models to “evangelise” other employers may choose to join a charter. As the charter is often strongly based on selfcommitment and basically does not include neither any external support nor external assessment it will only be appropriate for a spearhead of “advanced gender equality promoters”. Additionally, rankings could serve as a monitoring instrument and also allow for highlighting bad practices when publishing the lowest ranked enterprises. This can produce public pressure towards “black sheep” and probably initiates an internal reflection and discussion process with a view to gender equality among the management. For enterprises the ranking means a barometer on how their activities are evaluated in comparison to others. Compendia of good practice can serve as complementary measure to illustrate practical experiences, but do not directly initiate a change in the enterprises. Thus, they could be used for information campaigns or in the framework of PR measures. In some countries various types of initiatives are combined to promote gender equality. For example, among labelled enterprises those most successful in implementing instruments to promote gender equality may be awarded a prize; or the winners of an award are presented in a compendium of good practice. There would be the possibility of awarding the “best performer” among the undersigned of a charter, too. These combinations can profit from the advantages of different types of initiatives and information and data does not need to be gathered for each initiative separately. In any case, it seems to be important that the responsible organisations of different initiatives co-operate closely at national and European level to create a strong and coordinated network of organisations for promoting gender equality. Moreover, the networking should not only be fostered at the level of the responsible organisations but also at the level of the participating enterprises to support the exchange of experience which will be an additional benefit to the participant.
Gender equality initiatives 141 With a view to the design, implementation and further development of nonlegislative initiatives for companies to promote gender equality at the workplace, the following aspects should be taken into account: • Thematic focus: When designing and developing an initiative it is important to choose a thematic focus considering the general development of gender equality in a particular country (Which problems have to be addressed? Which fields lack gender equality the most?) and the problem of interdependences between the different fields of intervention. This could best be addressed by initiatives with a broad thematic scope while developments within society can be considered by continuously shifting the focus towards the most topical problems. The more specialised initiatives have the advantage of promoting best tailored measures to a specific problem and putting emphasis on more controversial issues. The assessment of the enterprises, the progress measured by concrete data and the benefits for the enterprises can probably better be illustrated when concentrating on a specific field of intervention. Special attention has to be put on the field of reconciliation. Being a precondition for fostering many aspects of women’s equal labour market participation it is naturally very important to promote initiatives which focus on reconciliation, especially in countries where childcare institutions are not provided adequately or reconciliation as such is controversial. But there is a danger that gender equality is reduced to the reconciliation debate and traditional gender roles are even reinforced. • Target group: To avoid the reinforcement of gender roles and gender stereotypes, more attention should be paid to the fact that gender equality addresses both, women and men. Thus, initiatives promoting gender equality at the workplace must target at both genders and support programmes and measures of enterprises which involve women and men. This is mainly true for measures supporting the reconciliation of work and family life. Men should be motivated to further participate in childcare and household – on the one hand to give women a real choice on how to combine work and family life and on the other hand to increase the share of men responsible for the family which will entail the breaking of gender stereotypes. But also in other fields, the participation of men is crucial. E. g. to tackle the vertical segregation managers – mainly men – have to be convinced about the advantages of women in managerial boards or male co-workers have to accept a female boss. • Development: As non-legislative initiatives for companies have no end in themselves but want to promote and increase the level of gender equality in a broad sense the design of these initiatives must be adaptable to the changing social environment and the progress gender equality registers. This continuous development is crucial for both, the thematic focus of the initiative in general and the concrete design with a view to requirements, assessment criteria, and target groups (groups of enterprises and employees) etc. in particular. From an international perspective, such adjustable initiatives will also be transferable from one country to another.
Page 1 and 2:
KMU FORSCHUNG AUSTRIA Austrian Inst
Page 3 and 4:
Gender equality initiatives I Partn
Page 5 and 6:
Gender equality initiatives III Con
Page 7 and 8:
Gender equality initiatives 1 Execu
Page 9 and 10:
Gender equality initiatives 3 The m
Page 11 and 12:
Gender equality initiatives 5 In th
Page 13 and 14:
Gender equality initiatives 7 behav
Page 15 and 16:
Gender equality initiatives 9 Initi
Page 17 and 18:
Gender equality initiatives 11 Thes
Page 19 and 20:
Gender equality initiatives 13 Comp
Page 21 and 22:
Gender equality initiatives 15 prac
Page 23 and 24:
Gender equality initiatives 17 Rés
Page 25 and 26:
Gender equality initiatives 19 de d
Page 27 and 28:
Gender equality initiatives 21 Roya
Page 29 and 30:
Gender equality initiatives 23 et f
Page 31 and 32:
Gender equality initiatives 25 La c
Page 33 and 34:
Gender equality initiatives 27 form
Page 35 and 36:
Gender equality initiatives 29 •
Page 37 and 38:
Gender equality initiatives 31 La c
Page 39 and 40:
Gender equality initiatives 33 comp
Page 41 and 42:
Gender equality initiatives 35 Zusa
Page 43 and 44:
Gender equality initiatives 37 Zude
Page 45 and 46:
Gender equality initiatives 39 Rank
Page 47 and 48:
Gender equality initiatives 41 Vere
Page 49 and 50:
Gender equality initiatives 43 aber
Page 51 and 52:
Gender equality initiatives 45 Der
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Gender equality initiatives 51 Verg
Page 59 and 60:
Gender equality initiatives 53 1 In
Page 61 and 62:
Gender equality initiatives 55 prom
Page 63 and 64:
Gender equality initiatives 57 1.2
Page 65 and 66:
Gender equality initiatives 59 1.2.
Page 67 and 68:
Gender equality initiatives 61 2 No
Page 69 and 70:
Gender equality initiatives 63 The
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Gender equality initiatives 67 gend
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Gender equality initiatives 71 prom
Page 79 and 80:
Gender equality initiatives 73 In P
Page 81 and 82:
Gender equality initiatives 75 “O
Page 83 and 84:
Gender equality initiatives 77 serv
Page 85 and 86:
Gender equality initiatives 79 In D
Page 87 and 88:
Gender equality initiatives 81 2) T
Page 89 and 90:
Gender equality initiatives 83 The
Page 91 and 92:
Gender equality initiatives 85 In t
Page 93 and 94:
Gender equality initiatives 87 In t
Page 95 and 96: Gender equality initiatives 89 Exam
Page 97 and 98: Gender equality initiatives 91 empl
Page 99 and 100: Gender equality initiatives 93 2.7
Page 101 and 102: Gender equality initiatives 95 3 In
Page 103 and 104: Gender equality initiatives 97 name
Page 105 and 106: Gender equality initiatives 99 To a
Page 107 and 108: Gender equality initiatives 101 Dig
Page 109 and 110: Gender equality initiatives 103 Sie
Page 111 and 112: Gender equality initiatives 105 tio
Page 115 and 116: Gender equality initiatives 109 •
Page 117 and 118: Gender equality initiatives 111 In
Page 119 and 120: Gender equality initiatives 113 etc
Page 123 and 124: Gender equality initiatives 117 Exi
Page 125 and 126: Gender equality initiatives 119 PSA
Page 127 and 128: Gender equality initiatives 121 4 C
Page 129 and 130: Gender equality initiatives 123 Ini
Page 131 and 132: Gender equality initiatives 125 Tab
Page 133 and 134: Gender equality initiatives 127 The
Page 135 and 136: Gender equality initiatives 129 the
Page 137 and 138: Gender equality initiatives 131 “
Page 139 and 140: Gender equality initiatives 133 How
Page 141 and 142: Gender equality initiatives 135 pro
Page 143 and 144: Gender equality initiatives 137 Wha
Page 145: Gender equality initiatives 139 5 C
show all

Study on non-legislative initiatives for companies to promote gender ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?