A European Union Commissioner recently quoted a series of studies showing that a more active participation by women in the workplace helps make businesses more efficient and avoid riskier investments.

One such study of 15,000 small- and medium-sized businesses in Finland found that those run by women tend to be 10 per cent more efficient than those run by men.  Another recent French study showed that companies with more women on their board of directors tended to perform better on the stock exchange.  Research has shown women to be more risk-averse and to focus more on a long-term perspective.

According to EU figures, women continue to earn considerably less money than men for the same work.  Only 30 per cent of Europe's managers are women.  This figure drops to just 10 per cent for large corporations.  Worst still, women are paid on average 14.7 per cent less than their male counterparts doing exactly the same job.

While pointing out that reasons for a gender gap are varied, the EU says working women tend to have less lucrative jobs and positions than men, and part-time work and career hiatuses for family reasons limit career and pay advancement.


Source: Financial Times, March 3, 2009.