Authors
Marzena Grzesiak Ph.D. (Part I 2, Part II, Part III 2)
Magdalena Olczyk Ph.D. (Foreword, Part I 1, Part III 1)
Anita Richert-Kaźmierska Ph.D. (Part I 2, Part II, Part III 2)
Marzena Starnawska Ph.D. (Part I 1, Part III 1, Summary)
All articles in this publication are scientifically reviewed by members of the editorial board.
Editorial Board:
Prof. Dr. Romualdas Ginevičius, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania
Dr. Jürgen Hogeforster, Hanseatic Parliament, Germany
Dr. Max Hogeforster, Baltic Sea Academy, Germany
Philipp Jarke, Scientific Editor in Chief, United Kingdom
Prof. Dr. Per Odenrick, University of Lund, Sweden
Published by
Baltic Sea Academy e.V.
Dr Max Hogefoster
Blankeneser Landstrasse, 22587 Hamburg, Germany
Editorial Correspondence: editor@baltic-sea-academy.eu;
Manufactured and published by BoD-Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt, Germany
© 2014 Baltic Sea Academy e.V. All rights reserved.
ISBN 9783735736253
Part-financed by the European Union (European Development Fund and European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument) within BSR QUICK IGA project. This publication does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Commision.
We are very grateful to the European Commision for the financial support and also to the Joint Technical Secretariat of the INTERREG IVB Programme for the support and advice.
The idea for this book was born in year 2012 as an aftermath of global discussion in the press and television on the long-term strategy for European Union growth and development. Published on March 3, 2010 EC's Statement "Europe 2020 - A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth" emphasized the need for joint action by Member States to overcome the crisis and the implementation of reforms for tackling the challenges of globalization, aging populations or the increasing need for rational use of resource. In order to achieve these objectives three basic, mutually reinforcing priorities were proposed: smart growth, i.e. the development based on knowledge and innovation, sustainable growth, which is the transition towards a low carbon, resource efficient and competitive economy and inclusive growth, which supports economy characterized by a high-employment , social and territorial cohesion.
According to the authors, in long-term horizon the biggest challenge facing the European Union is the increase of population activity on the European labor market. Achieving the objective enclosed in the Europe 2020 Strategy, i.e. the employment rate of people aged 20-64 should reach 75%, may be achieved only by increasing the activity of women and the elderly [Strategy 2020]. And those two groups of people have become of interest to the authors.
Analysis of macroeconomic data carried out by the authors indicated that the employment rate among women and older people in Scandinavian countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway is much higher than in other EU countries [Eurostat, 2012]. Thus the idea was born to identify and transfer of best practices from the Northern European countries to selected countries of the Baltic Sea Region (Poland Germany, Lithuania and Latvia). The choice of countries to which best practices should be transferred, was the result of the authors' participation in IGA "Innovative SMEs by Gender and Age" initiative. This project is a partnership including 13 partners from 7 BSR countries, which have specific experiences in SME promotion in the field of innovation and gender equality. 3 partners from Finland, Sweden and Norway deliver best practices, 10 partners from 4 southern BSR countries develop, test and implement these practices. Part of the analyzes presented in this book has been prepared as the internal QUICK IGA project’s reports: The best practices transfer part I [Grzesiak, Olczyk, Starnawska 2013], The best practices transfer part II [Grzesiak, Olczyk, Richert-Kaźmierska, Starnawska 2013] and The analysis of the conditions for best practices’ transfer [Grzesiak, Richert-Kaźmierska 2013]. To make the results of analysis, good practices descriptions and recommendations of transfer’s conditions more widely available, authors decided to publish that material in the form of this book.
This book was designed to differ from other books available on the market and dealing with activation of women and older people in the European labour market. Already the combined analysis of these two groups in one study constitutes a novelty. However, the authors focused on the one hand on the complex, and on the other hand, on a practical approach to analyse the problem of low activity of women and older people on EU labour market. Such approach determines the structure of the book.
The first part of the book is devoted to the description of the criteria that helped the authors select best practices and make characteristics of chosen practices. For each practice authors gave the short characteristics of the initiative, the target group and their measurable results.
The second part of the book deals with conditions of the best practices transfer. The authors described the essence of the best practices transfer and methodology for assessing the conditions of best practices implementation. However, the essential part of this chapter is questionnaire survey results, which was conducted among the project partners. The authors present legal, formal and financial terms of the best practices implementation related to the activation of senior citizens and women in four countries: Poland, Germany, Latvia and Lithuania. Moreover, readiness and commitment of public and private partners in the process of best practices implementing is discussed.
In the last part of book the transfers of best practices to four BSR countries are presented. For each best practices the authors described activities, which should to be undertaken to transfer the practices and analyzed benefits of the practices transfer. Additionally, minimal and optimal requirements for each best practices transfer were determined.
The authors hope that the results of research and analysis will allow the actual implementation of the proposed practices in selected countries in the Baltic Sea region. At the same time, the described methodology of identification of the transfer allows for flexible use for assessing the potential transfer of other practices in the promotion of women's economic activity and the elderly to the BSR countries.
The selection of good practice, supporting the participation of women on the EU labour market was not an easy choice. The authors decided to pursue three main criteria for making this selection.
Firstly, the best practices required to have features that the literature points to as fundamental of good practices such as effectiveness, efficiency, reflectiveness, innovation, versatility and ethics [Karwińska, Wiktor, 2008]. By effectiveness the actual contribution of good practice in the implementation of goals and objectives is meant. Efficiency is meant to achieve maximum results with determined inputs. Good practices are reflective, if it easy to conduct the process of their evaluation. The innovation of good practice manifests itself mainly in implementation of fresh, non earlier used ideas. In turn, the versatility of good practice includes the possibilities of the transfer and evaluation of this transfer.
Secondly, when choosing good practices supporting women's professional activity of EU labour market, the authors applied the principle of diversification. The authors wanted to show for which different entities in economy good practices can be applied. Good practice supporting the participation of women in the labor market can for example affect government's policy, hence the choice of good practice "Pay Equality Action Plan". Best practices can also be associated with the promotion of women's entrepreneurship, that is why we chose the practice "Fuuturis", or with the promotion of entrepreneurship among young women and youth, hence the choice of practice "Ambasadors for Women Enterprenership". The support of women's economic activity can be also pursued by supporting their education and it can increase their chances on the labor market. Therefore, we decided to choose practices "Femmale Future" and Women @ Work. At last, the achievement of higher labor market participation of women can be achieved through the promotion of self-employment among women and that is why we decided to choose the practice of "Women into Technology".
Thirdly, the authors want to choose such practices, which relate to the most important women's problems on the labor market in the countries to which best practices will be transferred. The first big problem is the low entrepreneurship among women. Self-employment1 is considered in literature as the evidence of entrepreneurship or lack of opportunities to work as an employee. However, from the point of view of economy and the situation on BSR labor market this phenomenon is highly desired due to the evidence of the resilience of self-employment to the crisis, compared with paid employment [European Employment Observatory Review, 2010]. Generally, in the group of BSR countries2 in year 2011 on average, about 13% men among all employed workers work as self-employed and only 7% of women prefer this form of work [Eurostat, 2011]. Therefore, we chose two practices: "Fuuturis" and "Ambassadors for Women Entrepreneurship".
The second problem is the unfavorable distribution of employment rates by sector, which provides a clear picture of the very different composition of female and male employment. Industry (specially ICT industry) is still the main work place for men, the services sector now provides the majority of female jobs. Men in all analyzed BSR countries are more likely than women to work in industry and agriculture and this situation hasn't changed much over the last decade. This is why we chose the best practice "Women in Technology".
The next problem on the BSR labour market is women’s wages, which are usually lower than men. According to authors' analysis of wages in BSR nine countries, women earned gross and per hour less on average 17.2% in 2010 than men [Eurostat, 2012]. The unadjusted Gender Pay Gap3 often varies between 15-22 % in most countries. Poland is the exception due to the lowest GPG (5,3 % in 2010), in turn, Estonia is known as a country with the highest GPG in Europe (27,6% in 2010). This is why we chose as very important to transfer the best practice "Pay Equality Action Plan".
The last large problem on BSR labor market is a big unemployment rate among young women i.e. in the age group of 15-24. Although, women are better educated than men in BSR region, the unemployment rates among women tend to be higher among the less educated women in the majority of countries, and tend to be lower among the more educated workers. Thus, to increase the participation of especially young women in the labor market in the analyzed countries have chosen practice Female Future 'and Women @ Work to the transfer.
1 A self-employed person is the sole or joint owner of the unincorporated enterprise (one that has not been incorporated i.e. formed into a legal corporation) in which he/ she works, unless they are also in paid employment which is their main activity (in that case, they are considered to be employees). Self-employed people also include: unpaid family workers; outworkers (who work outside the usual workplace, such as at home); workers engaged in production done entirely for their own final use or own capital formation, either individually or collectively.
2 Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Norway
3 The unadjusted Gender Pay Gap (GPG) represents the difference between average gross hourly earnings of male paid employees and of female paid employees as a percentage of average gross hourly earnings of male paid employees
Female future - mobilizing talents - a business perspective.
The NHO set up the Female Future project in 2003, and it lasted to 2008. The goals of the project were: to increase the percentage of women in decision-making processes, in management and in boards in general; to cause that the private sector is viewed as an attractive place to work by women; to involve managers as prime movers in the process aimed at recruiting more women to executive positions and to board posts; to make executive responsibilities be more easily combined with family responsibilities - the balance between work and private life. The results were so good that the project owners decided to reintroduce the project. It is still running.
First step of the programme consisted in building a network of supportive ambassadors for the project. The NHO chose influential individuals to be ambassadors, people who could address the arguments why women in business are important. What’s important, these ambassadors had to be both men and women.
The second step was the selection of companies (not women!), which are interested in the project. The enterprises were recruited into the programme, and the manager of the enterprise had to sign a contract. In these contracts the managers confirmed, that they would work to get one, two or more women into management, and into the board of directors. Also, the firms were obligated to nominate women-the candidates to Femmale Future programme from his/her own enterprises, to pay the costs relating to participations in the Future Femmale programme, to facilitate for a good work-life balance.
Then the management of the companies, which decided to join the Female Future, would be asked to look for the female talents in their organization i.e. women that they meant have talent and potential to take on more challenging tasks and leader positions. The talents selected joined the Female Future programme for one year and become part of the strong Female Future network.
The Female Future training program consists of three parts: Personal leadership training, Board competence and rhetoric. The training lasted from 13 to 15 days. In addition, throughout the duration of the project, selected women worked together with the managers of companies.
The first phase of the Female Future Programme was carried out in four rounds from the autumn of 2003 until the spring of 2005. As of spring 2006, approximately 370 talents have gone through the Phase 1 programme. More than 200 women finished the extended programme in June of 2007. In the autumn year 20007, 250 more women participated in the extended programme, ending at the end of 2008. In summary, since the start up in 2004 more than 1151 hand-picked talented individuals have qualified to take on board posts and more demanding leadership tasks. Approximately 700 companies have joined the programme.
First results of the programme was very optimistic: 26 % of the participants in the national programme have been offered board positions during or after the Female Future Programmes. (larger PLCs companies, total 490 in Norway) and 50% have been offered board positions in several regional projects following their participation in the FF Project. This was an extremely good score and promising for all the smaller limited companies which are in majority in Norway. Last evaluation of the programme was done in May 2010: 62% of the participants were offered board positions or advanced in their management career. In 2014, 1350 women have participated in the programme. They have been reqruited from 750 companies. The results of the initial period have improved. 67 % of the participants received offers of board positions 9 months after completion of training.
The Female Future programme was appointed by ILO as one of the 10 best examples on Gender Equality. Japan, Austria and Uganda are initiating a Female Future program.
Women into Technology (WIT)
One of the largest problems related with the low participation of women in the labour market in the BSR countries is their under-representation in higher level ICT jobs. It is especially important, as the ICT sector is characterized by significant jobs growth dynamics.
Fife Women’s Technology Centres (FWTC) were established in 1990 as a positive action initiative in order to train women who experienced real difficulty in obtaining work, so that they could rejoin the work force or take up further training opportunities. Their key priority was to widen horizons and raise aspirations by offering high quality training focusing on non-traditional areas, e.i. computing, electronics and IT.
The Programme “Women into Technology” started in year 1992, which was aimed first of all at long term unemployed women, at lonely parents, black and minority ethnic women, and women with disabilities. The programme was financed in 26% from European Social Fund and the rest from local and national funding.
To be able to offer to the right path for entry into the labour market, the FWTC created the network of local partners. FWTC liaised with local specialist organizations (e.g. violence against women) to ensure all round support for women, with employers (e.g. local businesses, mostly SMEs, larger manufacturing companies, banks, authorities) and with other partners specializing in an exchange of job information, in the work placement or in identification of employment opportunity. FWTC chose Adam Smith College, which accredited all courses and provided the internal verification.
WIT Core Programme covers 2,5 days per week over 48 weeks and consists of modules in maths, communication, technology and IT. The integrated part of this programme is the course of personal development, which covers to confidence building, assertiveness and team work. After this part, women could choose their professional specialization and take part in “professional progress”. For example the training” Office Administration” lasts 2 days per week over 24 weeks. It includes doing European Computer Driving Licence, improvement of practical office skills and the work placement (8-12 week) with a local employer. Another example of professional progression training is“ the Technical IT programme”. It consists of 2 days per week training over 48weeks in areas like Electric and Electronic Engineering, Computer Support, Network Support, Computing, Mechatronic Engineering). Additionally to the progression programmes, all women participate in personal development programme. It covers life coaching, personal presentation, CV writing, job search application and interview skills.
All courses are free of charge and additionally FWTC covers travel and childcare costs. If possible, the expenses related to the purchase of books or exams fees are covered by Fife Women’s Technology Centres. However, the key success factors of training under WIT programme is the complex and integrated approach (materials, teaching methods), which guarantees a success path to the employment. Women, which took part in this project, indicated a supportive atmosphere connected with a high standard as a success factor. FWTC won the Best Practice Award in ICT and was commended for the Equal Opportunities Award at the European Social Fund Objective 3 Awards.
Fuuturi: Women entrepreneurs and managers in the future
This project was a continuation of three earlier projects of the same aim but previously focused on women start-ups. It started with a company Futuuri (‘associated with the future’) owned by a woman. This initiative ran between 2008-2011 and focused on developing existing businesses owned by women. Co-financed by the ESF, the North-Savo Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY), the Regional Council of North Savo, Ylä-Savon Kehitys Oy, municipalities and companies.
The project was implemented by North Savo Education, the University of Kuopio and the Savonia University of Applied Sciences. The aims of the initiative were as follows: