Most Admired Business Woman Awards Gala 2014

There has been much progress made in recent decades to ensure gender equality and women are now well represented at all education levels, in many professional paths, and in early to mid-level roles in business. However, more efforts will be needed  to ensure that more women bring their talent and skills to top leadership roles in business.

As for women's employment, the European Union has set the goal to achieve a level of 75 per cent. So far, Sweden has exceeded that target, with an employment level of 77 per cent amongst women, while Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria follow closely behind.
Some countries have high female work participation and values that promote gender equality. However, the share of women in managerial positions does not always follow the general trend. In an article published by
NewGeography.com, Dr. Nima Sanandaji said that comparatively few women in the Nordic nations, world leaders in gender equality, reach the position of business leaders. According to Dr. Nima Sanandaji, data show that the Nordic nations all have lower levels of women at the top of businesses than their less progressive counterparts. "In Sweden and Denmark, only one out of ten directors and chief executives in the business world are women. Finland and the UK, two other nations with large public sector monopolies, fare only slightly better. In contrast, in the average eastern and central European country fully 32 per cent of the directors and chief executives are women. This can be compared to 21 per cent in western European countries, 17 per cent in southern European nations and merely 13 per cent in the otherwise egalitarian Nordic nations," Dr. Nima Sanandaji's article emphasized.