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Future of Europe: Why Gender Diversity Matters?

On the 25th of January, The European Committee of Regions organized a lunch conversation regarding the future of Europe and the importance of gender diversity.

The main focus of the event was on the presentation of the newly published book “Women Leading the Way in Brussels” followed by the discussion between the authors – Redscope Consulting’s Executive Director Claudia de Castro Caldeirinha and GMF’s Corinna Hörst and the audience on topics such as diversity, role models and formal- and informal leadership.

A big topic at the event was the importance of using our populations’ full potential, or, as Michelle Obama put it: “No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens.” Women are 50% of the population and 61% of the University graduates in EU. This means there has been a lot of investment in these women by families and by society. Their talent and knowledge should not be wasted!  However, when we look at top leading positions in politics and business, it is still en who actually are taking decisions. Women represent only 5.7% of the CEO’s in the EU.

When the difficulties and obstacles that (young) women face on their climb to the top were discussed, an interesting quote from the book came up: “Do not marry a dinosaur!”. This quote implicates that it is very important for women with career-ambitions to chose the right, supportive partner – choosing a partner may even be the most important business decision you will make! For many centuries, there have been male leaders with strong women behind them. In order for women to have a successful work-life balance, there should be a similar support.

During the discussion many more topics regarding women and leadership were covered, such as the importance of the support of the partner at home, new set of skills and the most important – lack of visibility of women in the top level management.

Click here to access videos of this event!