Sweden considers business gender quotas

  • Bloomberg News
  • Thursday, February 13, 2014 3:31pm
  • Business

STOCKHOLM — Sweden may consider forcing corporate boards to appoint more women after finding voluntary programs failed to bring about greater gender equality.

Companies must “much more carefully take a look at recruitments to boards this spring and at the annual general meetings and we must then see that improvements are being made,” Finance Minister Anders Borg said Wednesday in Stockholm. “If we see another year of things moving sideways” Sweden will “gradually move towards being forced to launch quota legislation,” he said.

The comments come as the government of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt trails the Social Democrat-led opposition in most polls ahead of September elections. While Sweden consistently tops global rankings measuring efforts to stamp out sex bias, according to the United Nations, businesses in the largest Nordic economy have failed to keep up with state measures to promote gender equality.

About 45 percent of Sweden’s elected officials are female, compared with only 22 percent of senior managers at the country’s 25 biggest companies. Women make up 24 percent of Sweden’s corporate boards, according to an index by Statistics Sweden measuring 231 publicly traded firms.

Annika Falkengren, who heads SEB and is one of only five female chief executive officers at Sweden’s 100 biggest firms, said late last year her country isn’t doing enough to help women succeed in the corporate sphere, and questioned a tendency to “glorify Sweden.”

Still, quotas such as Norway’s requirement of at least 40 percent representation on corporate boards and similar measures in Spain and France, aren’t the answer, she said.

“It is awful to feel that you have been asked to do a job just because there is a quota,” Falkengren said. “The threat of quotas is probably needed, but I have a lot of respect for the owners of the capital, and they should be able to decide who sits on that board.”

Research indicates pushing gender equality makes economic sense. A 2006 study from Sweden’s Uppsala University compared earnings of 48 companies and found that those with more female board members had higher profits and showed greater potential to increase earnings than companies with no women on their boards. Catalyst, a New York-based research and advocacy group, has arrived at a similar conclusion for Fortune 500 firms.

Intense debate around gender equality has gripped Sweden since Jens Spendrup, the chairman of the Swedish Federation of Enterprise, in an interview with Ekot radio on Feb. 8 said one of the reasons fewer women make it to corporate boards is that there’s a lack of competent female candidates.

Borg rejected the argument and said the government is tired of waiting for private enterprise to bring about greater equality.

“There’s been an incredibly slow movement towards female representation so I think there is an impatience in Sweden and in the political system,” Borg said. “It’s very clear that there is no lack of talent” as “we have very good boards in the state-owned companies and they are equal,” he said.

Among companies wholly owned by the government, including utility Vattenfall and SBAB Bank, women make up 49 percent of boards while 43 percent of board chairmen are women, compared with only 23 percent in 2006, according to the government’s website. Still, men’s participation in the labor market is 6 percentage points higher than women’s while the average woman earns 3.6 million kronor ($557,000) less than the average man during a life-time, according to the government.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

(Image from Pexels.com)
The real estate pros you need to know: Top 3 realtors in Snohomish County

Buying or selling? These experts make the process a breeze!

Relax Mind & Body Massage (Photo provided by Sharon Ingrum)
Celebrating the best businesses of the year in Snohomish County.

Which local businesses made the biggest impact this year? Let’s find out.

Construction contractors add exhaust pipes for Century’s liquid metal walls at Zap Energy on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County becomes haven for green energy

Its proximity to Boeing makes the county an ideal hub for green companies.

A closing sign hangs above the entrance of the Big Lots at Evergreen and Madison on Monday, July 22, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Big Lots announces it will shutter Everett and Lynnwood stores

The Marysville store will remain open for now. The retailer reported declining sales in the first quarter of the year.

George Montemor poses for a photo in front of his office in Lynnwood, Washington on Tuesday, July 30, 2024.  (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Despite high mortgage rates, Snohomish County home market still competitive

Snohomish County homes priced from $550K to $850K are pulling in multiple offers and selling quickly.

Henry M. Jackson High School’s robotic team, Jack in the Bot, shake hands at the 2024 Indiana Robotics Invitational.(Henry M. Jackson High School)
Mill Creek robotics team — Jack in the Bot — wins big

Henry M. Jackson High School students took first place at the Indiana Robotic Invitational for the second year in a row.

The computer science and robotics and artificial intelligence department faculty includes (left to right) faculty department head Allison Obourn; Dean Carey Schroyer; Ishaani Priyadarshini; ROBAI department head Sirine Maalej and Charlene Lugli. PHOTO: Arutyun Sargsyan / Edmonds College.
Edmonds College to offer 2 new four-year degree programs

The college is accepting applications for bachelor programs in computer science as well as robotics and artificial intelligence.

Rick Steves speaks at an event for his new book, On the Hippie Trail, on Thursday, Feb. 27 at Third Place Books in Lake Forest, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
Travel guru won’t slow down

Rick Steves is back to globetrotting and promoting a new book after his cancer fight.

FILE — Boeing 737 MAX8 airplanes on the assembly line at the Boeing plant in Renton, Wash., on March 27, 2019. Boeing said on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, that it was shaking up the leadership in its commercial airplanes unit after a harrowing incident last month during which a piece fell off a 737 Max 9 jet in flight. (Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)
Federal judge rejects Boeing’s guilty plea related to 737 Max crashes

The plea agreement included a fine of up to $487 million and three years of probation.

Neetha Hsu practices a command with Marley, left, and Andie Holsten practices with Oshie, right, during a puppy training class at The Everett Zoom Room in Everett, Washington on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Tricks of the trade: New Everett dog training gym is a people-pleaser

Everett Zoom Room offers training for puppies, dogs and their owners: “We don’t train dogs, we train the people who love them.”

Andy Bronson/ The Herald 

Everett mayor Ray Stephenson looks over the city on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2015 in Everett, Wa. Stephanson sees  Utah’s “housing first” model – dealing with homelessness first before tackling related issues – is one Everett and Snohomish County should adopt.

Local:issuesStephanson

Shot on: 1/5/16
Economic Alliance taps former Everett mayor as CEO

Ray Stephanson will serve as the interim leader of the Snohomish County group.

Molbak's Garden + Home in Woodinville, Washington will close on Jan. 28. (Photo courtesy of Molbak's)
After tumultuous year, Molbak’s is being demolished in Woodinville

The beloved garden store closed in January. And a fundraising initiative to revitalize the space fell short.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.