equality « Henkel Diversity Blog

When women earn the money / Wenn Frauen das Geld verdienen

Monday, August 16th, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

On tuesday evening the ZDF-show „37 Grad“ reported about women who earn more money than their husbands. At Henkel we actively support women to have a successful career, therefore this show was interesting for us. Just a few years ago the gender roles were clearly seperated: the man was the bread-earner. Women mostly worked part-time, if they worked at all. But the times have changed and nowadays it’s not a rarity that women earn more money than their husbands. In every tenth househould, women take the financial responsibility.

The TV-show pursued the questions how couples deal with the situation and how the gender roles are being re-defined. Three different couples were introduced, all of them with a different background. Two of the three men lost their jobs, whereby their wives became the sole earners. The men didn’t feel very comfortable about their situations and suffered from self-doubt. However, it is another situation, if both have a job but the woman earns more money. This was the case for the third couple. The man who stays at home and takes care of the children said: I have never felt better in my life. The TV-show demonstrated that there is a new generation of men, who enjoy staying at home and taking care of the children without feeling unmanly.[DE]

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The EDI Conference in Vienna/ Die EDI Conference in Wien

Monday, July 19th, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

From the 14th to 16th July the third Equality, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI) Conference took place in Vienna. This year’s theme was „Leadership for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Work”. The conference addresses academics, policy makers and practitioners and offers an international platform for explorations and discussions of leadership for equality, diversity and inclusion at work.

Several academic and doctoral sessions as well as sessions and workshops were held during these three days. For example, Stella Nkomo, Professor for Human Resource Management at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, held one of the keynote speeches, which highlighted the importance of leadership for equality, Diversity and Inclusion in South Africa. On the same day, Lize Booysen, Professor for Organizational Behavior and Leadership at the Antioch University, USA, held another keynote about diversity perspectives in leadership. Overall, the conference offered 17 streams and several workshops. Some of the topics discussed were: Sexual Orientation, Diversity and Equality in Organizations; Promoting diversity and ensuring equality at work: the role of the state, Relational Managing and Leading: The Role of Gender and Women, Work and Globalization in Developing and Transitional Societies. The next EDI Conference will take place on the February 7^th and 8^th in Auckland, New Zealand. [DE]

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I’m not a feminist…but what?/ Ich bin keine Feministin…aber was?

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

If you ask women nowadays if they believe in the ideas of feminism most of them will start nodding. But if you ask them if in reverse they are so called feminists they will start shaking their heads: “No, by no means!”

Most young women believe in equal rights for women and men. For them it’s a matter of course to go to school, university and have a career. The opportunities young women have are due to their mothers and grandmothers who fought as feminists for equal rights.

Nowadays the word feminist often has bad connotation. For the majority of people, a feminist is an angry, ugly woman who doesn’t seek gender equality, but domination. However, this is slowly changing. A new generation of feminists is emerging. Their goal: Making the final step towards gender equality. [DE]

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Report on equality between women and men 2010 / Bericht über die Gleichheit zwischen Männern und Frauen 2010

Friday, March 26th, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

Each year, the European Commission reports to the European Council on developments towards gender equality and challenges that emerged. This year’s report points out that there is a generally positive trend towards a gender-equal society.

However, differences in employment, pay, working-hours and management positions persist. As future challenges, the report identifies a synergy between gender equality and employment, the reconciliation between work and family, the promotion of social inclusion and gender equality as well as preventing gender-based violence. As a conclusion, the commission calls to the European Council and to all EU-Nations to respond to these challenge ans transform commitment into action and results. [DE]

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Salary report by the magazine Wirtschaftswoche and Personalmarkt Services / Gehaltstest der Wirtschaftswoche und der Vergütungsberatung Personalmarkt

Thursday, March 25th, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

The magazine Wirtschaftswoche and Personalmarkt Services compared the salaries of 470 careers and positions. The results are mainly negative. The salaries of top-managers increase while those of university graduates constantly decrease. The gap between women and men still exists and the net income of German employees decreased in 2009. Positive news is, that the old principle “who stays the longest at the company earns the most” no longer exists. Performance is the determining factor for a rise in salary and specialists can expect pay raises up to 5 percent. [DE]

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The income gender gap/Der Gehaltsunterschied zwischen Männern und Frauen

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 by Astrid Bosten

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day on March 8, the Federal Statistic Office released data on the income gender gap. According to the numbers, women in Germany earn 23.3 percent less than man. In Italy, the difference amounts only to 4.9 percent. These numbers could easily be misinterpreted. The released data include only working people and compare very different job types with each other. For these reasons, the released data give an overview, but no indication for the equality between men and women. [DE]

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As the 21st century is the century of women, more women will be on management boards in the future . Change is needed ! Where?# AM