WOMEN IN BUSINESS AND IN DECISION MAKING

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WOMEN IN BUSINESS AND IN DECISION MAKING

• THE SITUATION IN CHAMBERS ACROSS EUROPE
• (CHAMBERS SURVEY RESULTS)
• Athens, Greece
• 10 December 2004
• Leonidas Paschalides, Director, Department of
  Education and Development,
• Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry

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INTRODUCTION

• The survey was conducted in the framework of the
  E.U. project Women in Business and in
  Decision-Making that is co-funded by DG
  Employment and Social Affairs of the European
  Commission
• Project Consortium
• Eurochambres-Eurochambres Women Network (EWN)
• Union of Hellenic Chambers of Commerce and
  Industry (UHCCI)

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INTRODUCTION

• Project Consortium (continued)
• Association of Italian Chambers of Commerce,
  Industry, Craft and Agriculture (UNIONCAMERE)
• Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry
  (CCCI)-Cyprus Federation of Business and
  Professional Women (BPW)
• Hamburg Chamber of Commerce
• The Consortium is led by Eurochambres/EWN
• The aim of the survey was to find out what is
  done by Chambers in the E.U. in favour of the
  full inclusion of women in the economic
  process...

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INTRODUCTION

• ... and their participation in decision-making
  processes, identifying at the same time best
  practices and raising awareness
• 17 national Chamber organisations participated in
  the survey or 68 of the national Chamber
  organisations in the E.U. member-states
• These 17 Chamber organisations represent a total
  of 626 regional/local Chambers and around 14
  million enterprises

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GENERAL OVERVIEW

• The main findings are
• Female entrepreneurs are underrepresented in the
  membership of Chambers
• Female entrepreneurs are grossly underrepresented
  in the elected body of Chambers
• In general Chambers employ more women than men
  but the share of women in management positions is
  far from satisfactory
• At the posts of Secretary/Director General and
  President of Chambers, the participation of women
  is very low

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GENERAL OVERVIEW

• The share of female entrepreneurs in the
  membership of Chambers varies widely (from 2.5
  to 33)
• Share of female entrepreneurs in the elected body
  of Chamber associations
• Below 5 in 57 cases
• Between 5-10 in 21 of cases
• Between 15-30 in 22 of cases

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GENERAL OVERVIEW
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GENERAL OVERVIEW

• Participation of women in the workforce of
  national Chamber associations
• 76 of Chamber associations employ more women
  than men
• Yet this participation is not reflected at the
  management level of many of the associations
• In only 25 of the cases the level of women in
  management positions exceeds 38 of the total
  number of managers. In 31 of the cases the level
  is below 5. The rest varies widely (15-35)

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GENERAL OVERVIEW
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GENERAL OVERVIEW

• Female Secretaries General/Directors General and
  Presidents at the head of Chambers
• Only 11 of Secretaries/Directors General and
  Presidents are women
• Large variations across Europe
• When looking at the national Chamber associations
  the situation is even worse. Only one ( i.e. 3)
  is a woman

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STRUCTURE IN PLACE FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

• 6 (in their great majority public law Chambers)
  out of the 17 Chamber organisations that
  participated in the survey have a national
  structure in place with central co-ordination at
  national level (those mentioned in the Best
  Practices section)
• 11 out of the 17 organisations either do not have
  a national structure or deal with the matter
  sporadically

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STRUCTURE IN PLACE FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

• Yet many local/regional Chambers develop
  interesting initiatives based on opportunities
  and demand (mainly projects in the frame of
  European or national funding schemes). Usually
  these initiatives run for a limited period of
  time
• Chambers also co-operate with other organisations
  that foster women entrepreneurship

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STRUCTURE IN PLACE FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

• Some examples are
• The Brussels CCI supports the activities of the
  Association de Femmes Chefs dEntreprise that
  is represented in its Board
• The Union of Hellenic CCIs is creating a
  nationwide network named Chambers Greek Women
  National Network
• The Latvian CCI operates an informal female
  entrepreneurs network

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BEST PRACTICES

• The Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO) has created a
  specific department named Women in Business
  that deals with or is involved in
• Company start-ups
• Access to finance
• Training
• Search for mentees or mentors
• Provision of information on how to combine
  business and family

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BEST PRACTICES

• The Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO) has created a
  specific department named Women in Business
  that deals with or is involved in (continued)
• Lobbying for relevant schemes/initiatives
• Various communication means for liaising with its
  members the main ones being a website, a
  magazine, brochures and e-mailings
• Regular organisation of events

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BEST PRACTICES

• The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry
  (CCCI) has a structure in place that comprises
• A competent department - the Department of
  Education and Development -
• The Cyprus Federation of Business and
  Professional Women - BPW Cyprus that is
  affiliated with the CCCI and operates under its
  auspices
• Co-operation with the Womens Co-operative Bank

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BEST PRACTICES

• The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry
  (CCCI) also
• Involves the local CCIs that are able to provide
  relevant information in co-operation with it
• Promotes female entrepreneurship through the
  promotion of the Government Scheme for
  Strengthening Female Entrepreneurship, the
  organisation of relevant seminars/conferences,
  the promotion of the Womens Co-operative Bank
  that provides finance, the conduct of lobbying,
  e.t.c.

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BEST PRACTICES

• The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry
  (CCCI) also (continued)
• Carries out the above promotion in co-operation
  with BPW Cyprus and sometimes the Co-operative
  Bank
• Handles issues such as access to finance and
  start-ups (mainly through the Co-operative Bank)
  and training and lobbying (in co-operation with
  BPW Cyprus)

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BEST PRACTICES

• The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry
  (CCCI) also (continued)
• Uses various communication tools such as its
  website, e-mailings, circulars, brochures,
  newsletters, seminars, conferences, often in
  co-operation with BPW Cyprus
• Has so far achieved the establishment of the
  Womens Co-operative Bank, the introduction of
  the Scheme for Strengthening Female
  Entrepreneurship and the very recent introduction
  of the Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship

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BEST PRACTICES

• The Association of German Chambers of Commerce
  and Industry (DIHK) has a division that is
  responsible for Social Security and
  Work-Life-Balance and is also accountable for
  contents dealing with women entrepreneurship and
  for co-ordinating the working group Equal
  Opportunities which gathers 13 Chamber
  representatives from across Germany

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BEST PRACTICES

• Another division that is responsible for
  start-ups in general, deals with questions of
  female start-ups
• Services offered by the German Chambers include
  start-ups, training, women in management
  positions, family-friendly environment,
  networking events, e.t.c.
• At central level the DIHK deals mainly with
  start-ups and the work-life-balance. A booklet
  has also been published on the latter

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BEST PRACTICES

• The activities take place regularly
• There are also member meetings and meetings with
  the Parliament
• The Hamburg Chamber of Commerce in specific,
  promotes a mentoring scheme for female start-ups
  and provides information on various initiatives
  implemented elsewhere in Germany

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BEST PRACTICES

• The Association of Italian Chambers of Commerce,
  Industry, Craft and Agriculture (UNIONCAMERE)
  signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the
  Ministry of Industry which gave birth to the
  creation of the Committees for the Promotion of
  Women Entrepreneurship
• So far 100 local Chambers have set up such
  Committees

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BEST PRACTICES

• The Committees tackle questions relating to
  female start-ups, access to finance, training and
  mentoring. They are also involved in lobbying and
  in regional programmes for female
  entrepreneurship
• The main instruments used by the Committees to
  achieve their goals are seminars, meetings,
  conferences and working groups

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BEST PRACTICES

• Their main communication tool is their website
  www.if-imprenditorialfemminile.it. In addition,
  they publish brochures, organise e-mailings, send
  newsletters and letters to their members
• The Committees have managed to increase awareness
  on female entrepreneurship at all levels with
  beneficial outcomes

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BEST PRACTICES

• Furthermore, the Chambers have created the
  National Observatory for women entrepreneurship
  (co-financed by Unioncamere and the Ministry of
  Industry) which performs statistical and trends
  analysis of female entrepreneurship and publishes
  an evaluation report of the results achieved

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BEST PRACTICES

• The Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce has a
  department in charge of female entrepreneurship
  that deals with the following
• Start-ups
• Access to finance
• Mentoring
• Training
• Views exchange with the Ministry of Female
  Promotion and relevant professional organisations

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BEST PRACTICES

• Among the tools used are meetings, seminars and
  conferences
• Communication means include a website, brochures
  and a monthly magazine
• Chamber officials also attend relevant seminars
  and conferences
• The increase of the awareness and interest of
  the target public but also the target group is a
  definite outcome of the Chambers activities

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BEST PRACTICES

• The High Council of Spanish Chambers (CSC), the
  Instituto de la Mujer (the National Women
  Institute) and regional and local Chambers
  co-operate for the promotion of female
  entrepreneurship
• The CSC launched in the second half of the 90s a
  programme that encourages women to become
  self-employed and assists existing women
  entrepreneurs to consolidate their business

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BEST PRACTICES

• 60 out of the 85 Spanish Chambers have
  implemented technical support offices in the
  frame of the programme and offer advice on
  start-ups, access to finance, mentoring and
  training among other services
• The Chambers organise relevant meetings, seminars
  and conferences and circulate information via a
  dedicated website (www.e-empresarias.net),
  brochures and e-mailing

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BEST PRACTICES

• In the beginning of 2004 the CSC launched a new
  programme that targets women entrepreneurs as
  well as companies that have women in managerial
  positions and offers them a wide range of
  services. According to the findings of the CSC,
  women in management positions have a positive
  influence on the consolidation of companies

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BEST PRACTICES

• Also, a special department was created inside the
  CSC with the aim of increasing the participation
  of women in the economic activity through the
  co-ordination of all relevant services,
  activities and programmes of the CSC

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THANK YOU VERY MUCH!