WIL EVENT REPORTS

Biannual Meeting with EU Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potocnik

Posted in WIL event reports
2-3 June 2009 - Brussels

Themed as " Empowering Young Women for Greater Participation in the 21st Century: Inspiration, Exchange and Real Action", the 4th WiL meeting brought together leaders from politics and business together with young women toset action steps that would encourage more women to assume responsibilities in areas where they are under represented, such as research and technology or entrepreneurship.

Keynote Speakers:

Guest Speakers:

During a high level dinner debate, the EU Commissioner Janez Potocnik called on the need to reach excellence in research through the greater participation of women. The Commissioner saluted the progress of the last 10 years in decreasing the gender gap of women’s participation in the field of sciences. He spoke about the “She Figures” initiative of the EU Commission, which aims to scale the issue of women’s participation in research, and also of the continuous support of women’s networks. He however confirmed the need for further actions to enable women to progress in their careers.

The second day the network was also joined by the 9 young women part of the mentoring program, actively involved in the youth platforms of AIESEC and Jade. The debate shifted from empowering women in science and research to women’s role in business management.

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, author of the book “Why Women Mean Business” and gender consultant, shared information on women’s recognition of talent in different geographies and on the increasing influence women have upon the economy, either as buyers or as market decision makers. She presented the financial sector as an example which urges business leaders to reconsider women’s contribution to decision making, as it is one of the most male dominant sectors and is at the moment a highly unpredictable environment. One solution Avivah promoted for empowering more women is to work together with the current leaders in sustaining women’s career cycles, different from the current socially accepted one, centred on men.

Deputy Director General for DG Enterprise and Industry of the EU Commission Françoise Le Bail confirmed the need for progress in gender policies. In the sector she represents, few women are appointed in leadership positions, on one hand, and fewer of them decide to become entrepreneurs, on the other hand. Mrs. Le Bail announced that her team will work with the Swedish EU Presidency to launch a Women’s Ambassadors program, aiming to convince women to take risks and start their own businesses.

The last speaker, Martine Blockx, Ernst & Young Partner, presented a study conducted by Ernst & Young, “Groundbreakers. Using the Strength of Women to Rebuild the World Economy”, which confirmed the conclusions drawn during the meeting. According to the study, gender balanced executive boards take decisions which lead to higher profitability. It is therefore in the interest of organisations to apply policies which encourage women’s presence in the higher management ladders.

The members of the network agreed on the fact that there are 2 sides to the problem: the first is about making power attractive to women so that they can assume risks and enforce their own ideas, while the second is about changing the mix of cultural biases. Quota policies could be a good incentive for this, even though it is a sensitive approach. A decision that the membersagreed on is to share the gender statistics they have access to with the whole network and with policy makers, so as to develop gender balance strategies in line with the realities women are facing.

The second part of the meeting was moderated by Claudine Schmuck, coordinator of the Mentor2Mentee program. It was an opportunity for both mentors and mentees, to get to know each other and set their expectations, before their first 1:1 meeting. It was a fruitful meeting during which the mentors and mentees agreed on how their learning relationship should evolve.

They will meet at least once again in the next 6 months and stay in contact through virtual communication during this period. This period represents the first step in the decision-making process that includes entrepreneurial or career development projects from the mentees’ side. One important aspect is that the mentors also expect from this relationship to gain a fresh outlook on future leaders and their vision on the society in view of integrating it in their organizations, in the long run.

Tags: Mentoring Program, EU Commission, Girls in IT, Research Women Issues, Gender diversity

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