Electronics & Automation 2009

High Tech Heels, from design to manufacturing

Buzzing with anticipation and energy! You know that type of event, nothing has happened yet – and the room is electric. That was the sort of environment pre-existing in the Croesezaal at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht on the 29^th of May. While I do experience that feeling on a regular basis at EuropeanPWN events, I don’t often come across it in my work conferences.

Equality is enshrined as a principle at the heart of the European Union, yet only about one-third of Euro MPs are women. Gender discrimination remains widespread in Europe.

Here European Commission Vice-President Margot Wallstrom explains why she is campaigning to get more women into senior EU positions. This is part of a viewpoint series ahead of the June European elections.

From BBC News:

• Viewpoint: A fair deal for women

Article from Financial Times:

Why women managers shine in a downturn – by Michel Ferrary, professor of management at Ceram Business School, France, expert on gender diversity and stock market performance.

Mary van der Boon looks at why there are fewer women in top positions in business, government and universities in the Netherlands than in other European countries, and suggests how we can bring about change.

Countless surveys and studies have come to the same conclusion: gender diversity in the Netherlands, particularly the streaming of women to top positions in business, government and universities, lags sorely behind other European countries.

Most parties on both sides of the Great Gender Debate would agree on the facts. The story gets murky when you ask why this occurs and what can be done about it.

There are a few popularly-held myths and beliefs around women and leadership in the Netherlands, and it might be useful to look at some of these old chestnuts from a new angle: