The article starts as follows:

“A group of women wearing fake beards stormed the podium at Veolia Environnement’s crowded shareholders’ meeting in Paris last month, challenging Chairman Henri Proglio over the gender makeup of his overwhelmingly male board. “Is it really wise to allow women to define the strategy of a company, a task requiring intelligence, an ability to react, and coolheadedness?” asked a disguised member of the feminist advocacy group La Barbe, or “The Beard.” She taunted the French water utility for having only one woman on its 17-member board.”

The bottom line: French boardrooms have long been a male domain. A proposal requiring that at least 40 percent of directors be women could change that.

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Mikael Karlsson owns a snowmobile, two hunting dogs and five guns. In his spare time, this soldier-turned-game warden shoots moose and trades potty-training tips with other fathers. Cradling two-month-old Siri in his arms, he can’t imagine not taking baby leave. “Everyone does.”

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For more articles in IHT’s The Female Factor series, please click here.

Nancy McKinstry was appointed CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Wolters Kluwer in 2003 and is regularly included in annual rankings of the world’s top leaders. As one of the most powerful women in business, Nancy McKinstry has been honored by Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women, Fortune’s Global 50 Powerful Women in Business, and the Financial Times Top 50 Women in World Business.

Mrs. McKinstry engineered a successful transformation of Wolters Kluwer into a forward-looking, customer-focused information services organisation for professionals in the areas of legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and healthcare. She is leading the organization as it carries out its 2010-2012 strategy for Maximizing Value for Customers.

During her speech, which marks a highlight event in the 2010 program of EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam, Nancy McKinstry will share how the global, market-leading information services company is implementing innovation in its portfolio of products and services for professionals, based on the foundation of the company; deep customer insight and understanding. The company’s long-term strategy is focused on maximizing value for customers and is based on technology and innovation to drive success for the company as well as for its stakeholders. Moreover, innovation is embedded in the talent management strategy of the company to foster leadership.

The program will take place on 16 June 2010 at the Amsterdam Renaissance Hotel (Kattengat 1, 1012 SZ Amsterdam) and is scheduled to begin at 20h30 (8:30 p.m.).

Members: free and are required to pre-register. Guest fee: EUR 25.
Please sign up now through: http://bit.ly/doWNQQ

ABOUT EUROPEANPWN-AMSTERDAM

EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam is a not-for-profit, volunteer run, networking association for internationally operating professional women based in The Netherlands. The association offers an open online and offline platform for members across industries to communicate, develop and share expertise through organised meetings and informal networking sessions. EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam is a member network of European Professional Women’s Network, which connects more than 3,000 members across Europe. The Amsterdam City Network combines the knowledge and expertise of approximately 300 women – senior professionals, corporate directors, entrepreneurs, government leaders, and top executives alike.

“Having a greater number of women at the top will quite simply enable us to operate better,” chief executive Rene Obermann was quoted as saying.

“Taking on more women in management positions is not about the enforcement of misconstrued egalitarianism. It is a matter of social fairness and a categorical necessity for our success,” Obermann said.

The company says 13 percent of its management positions were occupied by women in 2008. Deutsche Telecom is the first on Germany’s DAX index of blue-chip stocks to introduce quota.

Industrial giant Siemens is the only DAX company to have a woman on its senior board.

From Left to Right: Patty Kruiswijk, Manuela Roth (RSM ‘10), Dianne Bevelander, Camilla Bjorkqvist (RSM ‘10), Eleonore Breukel, Saskia Trurniet, and Ursula van Rozemeijer.

Women comprise about 30% of the students in the OneMBA and the percentage of women faculty is even less. While there are complex factors that might explain this, members of the 2010 and 2011 classes have decided to put women on the agenda.

The effort lead in large part by Camilla Björkqvist and Manuela Roth has focused on securing eminent business women to speak at OneMBA residencies. By connecting with women across the OneMBA community as well as the European Professional Women’s Network( EPWN), the kick-off on during the Spring 2009 RSM Residency featured Mirella Visser, Owner of the Center for Inclusive Leadership and the EuropeanPWN President. This conversation was continued when the class went to Istanbul and met with local women business leaders.

In September 2009 another panel took place with a group of Dutch women executives on the topics of “Women – the saviors of our economy?” With several courageous men participating in the audience, there was a lively and honest discussion.

At the EGADE Residency in November 2009, a Cemex executive, Irma Gomez shared her perspective on women, employment, and the economy in Mexico.

Events are in the works for Hong Kong and the the U.S. All alumni are invited to attend a session at the RSM Residency on April 8 2010 with Carien van der Laan, co-owner of Women Capital, and executive search firm specialized in women and placing them on top level positions. Van der Laan will address what to do with once you get an MBA and the value that women add in the executive ranks.

Some interesting statistics from the United States are worth sharing. According to the report The Economic Impact of Women-Owned Businesses in the United States by the American Center for Women’s Business Research and funded by the National Women’s Business Council and Wal-Mart, women-owned businesses contribute nearly $3 trillion to the U.S. economy and create or maintain 23 million jobs. If women-owned businesses were their own country, they would have the 5th largest GDP in the world, ahead of countries including France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Anecdotally, many women say that they start their own business because they want to balance work and family and that they cannot break into the traditional male-dominated positions—or do not want to.

Members of the 2011 class are taking leadership to continue the discussion of the women in the OneMBA. Anyone in the OneMBA community can join the events organized by Women@OneMBA, men included. If you would like to know more about this initiative, please contact Manuela Roth or Camilla Bjorkqvist in the OneMBA2010 class.

For more news about the one MBA programs and to see the full newsletter click through to the one MBA website.

Breaking news: finally there seems be an increase in the number of female partners at the large law firms in the Netherlands. The total number of female partners has increased at the top 10 law firms from 57 last years to 61 this year, whereas the total number of partners decreased in that top 10 from 450 to 430. These data are published in De Stand van de Advocatuur 2010. On 26 March the first copy of this document will be handed over to Saskia Stuiveling, president of the general Court of Auditors and member of the Council of recommendation of the Dutch order of lawyers.

There is also less good news for the champions of diversity: at the top 10 last year  a total of 865 female lawyers worked, this year that number has decreased to 808. Also the number of male lawyers decreased, from 1,211 to 1,168. In terms of percentage the proportion male and female lawyers now amounts to at the top 10 of offices 59.4% for 40.6%, in contrast to last year 58.9% and 41.1%.

This text has been translated from: http://www.advocatie.nl

Read more from McKinseyQuarterly.com:

• Leadership through the crisis and after: McKinsey Global Survey results

For the 6th year in a row, Wolters Kluwer CEO Nancy McKinstry has been named to the Forbes List of 100 Most Powerful Women 2009. This year she is ranked #43 – a significant move upwards from last year’s list, which ranked McKinstry at #82.

In this video interview, McKinstry discusses with Heidi Brown of Forbes Magazine subjects ranging from how Wolters Kluwer is innovating in the changing publishing industry, the role of women leaders in Europe, and the company’s strategy of increasing organic growth by staying on top of customer needs and emerging technologies.

The women of the 100 Most Powerful Women list are chosen for their leadership positions, the amount of money and resources they control, and the frequency of media mentions.

• Zapkliklees: De honderd vrouwen met meeste invloed
• De 100 Machtigste Vrouwen van Nederland