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

Gender equality initiatives 89
Examples of regional charters with a broader approach are the “Charte de la Diversité
de la Région Wallonne” (diversity charter of the Walloon Region) in Belgium and the
“Antidiskriminačná dohoda” (antidiscrimination charter) in two regions of Slovakia.
Almost 100 Walloon enterprises have signed the charter which includes commitment to
diversity management and non-discrimination principles and actions supporting this.
The Slovakian initiative was co-financed by ESF and the enterprises followed gender
equality and antidiscrimination trainings and signed the charter to take responsibility to
implement the appropriate measures within their organisation.
2.5 Rankings
Rankings of companies can be defined as the result of a comparison of enterprises
based on the assessment of different criteria. Often such criteria are concentrated in an
index. It can be distinguished between rankings which are based on the analysis of
publicly available data (e. g. extracted from annual reports, communication materials of
companies like websites) and ones which require the co-operation of the companies by
answering a questionnaire. Often such rankings focus on large enterprises or only take
into account enterprises with a certain size.
In France and Sweden exists a ranking based on an index analysing exclusively companies
quoted on the stock market. The “Baromètre annuel Capitalcom sur la mixté”
(Yearly Capitalcom barometer on gender-mixed work) assesses the situation in 40
major French corporations by applying a 40-criteria analysis grid to communication
material of the companies investigating key data such as the proportion of women in
staff or in management boards and the number of agreements on gender equality and
goals which are communicated about in the area of pay gap reduction, the existence of
follow-up indicators, career development etc. The results of the barometer are
published in newspapers and magazines. The Swedish “Folksams Jämställdhetsindex”
(Folksam’s equality index) reviews and rates enterprises listet on the OMX Stockholm
Index annually with a view to the number of women on board of the parent company, in
management positions in the parent company and the number of women in the group
based on the companies’ annual reports. In order to achieve the maximum rating the
same proportion of men and women is necessary in all three categories. Companies
are only listed if they attain a minimum average rating. The existence of an equal
opportunity plan and its communication can improve the rating.
In Iceland the “Jafnérttiskennitala” (Icelandic Equality Index) published from 2005 to
2008 informs on gender equality among the 100 largest enterprises in Iceland based
on the analysis of the annual reports and interviews with the companies’ directors. The
initiative was part of a project aiming at the publication of the number of female board
directors and chairmen and of women among the highest-ranking executives in these
companies. Additionally, criteria were developed for evaluating the achievements in the
field of gender equality. The number of women in management and board positions is
also analysed for “Likestillingsbørsen” (Gender index regarding board positions) of the
Federation of Norwegian Agricultural Co-operatives. Co-operatives with more than
1000 members are included in the list ranking the co-operatives with the highest female
share on top.
“Techni’Femmes” was inspired by “girls’ day” events which are organised in several European
countries and promoted by EU institutions. In order to organise “Techni’Femmes”, FETE relies on a
whole network of actors of employment: corporations, Pôle Emploi (French public employment agency),
training centres, etc., as well as industrial cities which offer a majority of traditionally male job positions
(e.g. the city of Le Creusot).