This project is the first of its kind to map and compare the top positions in politics and business in the Nordic countries and the autonomous territories. A total of 20 researchers studied gender-policy developments and initiatives over the last 15 years. The research was conducted by the Nordic Gender Institute (NIKK) on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The results are being presented at a conference in Reykjavik, 18–19 November.

The study is based on the assumption that a proportion of 40–60% from each gender constitutes balanced representation. This target has been reached in the parliaments of Finland, Iceland and Sweden. In Denmark and Norway, women account for just under 40%.

"The national parliaments' representation of women has increased since the mid-1990s in all countries except Norway, which has remained at the same level," says Kirsti Niskanen, head of research at NIKK. This proportion has increased moderately in Denmark, somewhat more strongly in Finland and Sweden, and in Iceland there has been a significant increase – from 25% to 43%.

In Norway and Sweden, the political parties' voluntary quotas for candidates have played a role in increasing the proportion of women in politics. In Finland, calls to vote for women candidates have proven successful.

The Nordic governments are also relatively gender-balanced. Finland alone has a government dominated by women (60%), while there is a 50–50 split in Norway and Iceland. Women account for just over 40% of the Swedish and Danish governments.

It is also clear that women and men are still not evenly distributed throughout the different political spheres – although there are examples of women making inroads into traditionally male areas, such as finance, foreign affairs and defence, over the last 15 years.

Greater gender balance is found in areas that are highly visible and characterised by a high degree of transparency. Equality is not monitored so closely at local-authority level, and so the representation of women is worse here than at national level. Only Sweden, with 42% women, can be said to have achieved gender balance at local level. Finland, Iceland and Norway are approaching 40%, while only one in four Danish local politicians is a woman.

"If we look at the top posts on local councils, the situation is even worse," Niskanen points out. In Denmark, only 7% of mayors are female. The figures in Finland and Iceland have risen to 27% and 20% respectively (an increase of around 10% from the mid-1990s). Norway has risen slightly, from 16% to 23%. In Sweden, the proportion of women has remained around 30% since the mid-1990s.

Similar trends have not been reflected in business and industry over the last 15 years. The research project's comparison of listed companies and state-owned organisations shows that, with few exceptions, business remains a male bastion. The proportion of women on the boards of private companies varies from 7–36% in the Nordic countries. Public corporations are more gender-balanced, as they are generally directly influenced by the equality laws' provisions on gender parity.

The exception is Norway, which has introduced a quota for directors in Norwegian-listed companies. This requires boards to be at least 40% female and at least 40% male. The average proportion of women on the boards of companies on the Oslo Stock Exchange (both Norwegian and foreign) has risen from 9% in 2004 to 36% in 2009. In Sweden, female representation has risen from 4% in the late 1990s to 19%. The increase in Sweden can be attributed to a debate that led to a stock exchange code for corporate governance, which calls for greater gender balance. There has been no change in representation in the other countries.

Management in private companies is still almost totally dominated by men, even in countries where there has been an increase in the proportion of women on company boards. Women in senior positions are primarily found in financial and service companies, and in the health services.

Of the Swedish-listed companies, women are better represented on the boards of companies with high market values than on those with low values.

Questions about the study can be put to the head of research Kirsti Niskanen, and contact names are available for researchers in all of the Nordic countries and autonomous territories.

Kirsti Niskanen, Head of Research
Tel. +47 41 14 39 12
kirsti.niskanen@nikk.uio.no

Bosse Parbring, Media Officer
Tel. +47 41 38 38 19
bosse.parbring@nikk.uio.no