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March 9, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 9
Eastern Europe risks losing lead in workplace equality
Clare Nuttall in Bucharest
Russia, Poland and other countries in Eastern Europe have among the world’s largest proportions of female business leaders and women represented in senior management, despite the increasingly conservative politics of these countries. However, new surveys released around International Women’s Day indicate the region could be losing what was once a global lead in the area.
The relatively high number of women that remain in high-ranking positions in businesses – especially in the financial sector and financial roles – is partly a legacy from the communist era and to some extent it continues despite less than conducive business and political environments.
While recent policy decisions in countries such as Russia, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria have gone against women in areas such
as reproductive rights and domestic violence, the conservative backlash in several countries appears to have had little impact in areas
affecting the workplace — possibly because
of the growing skills shortage caused partly
by dwindling populations as a result of low birth rates and mass emigration.
Research from financial services company
Grant Thornton shows that the percentage of businesses in Eastern Europe with at least
one woman in senior management fell slightly from 91% in 2017 to 87% in 2018. While still among the most equal regions in the world in this respect, Eastern Europe is no longer the leader, having been overtaken this year by Africa, where 89% of businesses have women in senior management.
Eastern Europe still has the highest proportion of senior roles held by women — 36%, which
is 6 percentage points higher than its nearest rivals Africa and Latin America — but again reveals a decline from 38% in 2017. Globally, the percentage of businesses with at least one