Scandinavian countries top the
charts for gender equality
By Ilana Kegel
January 2006
According to the World
Economic Forum, the leading
countries for gender equality
are Sweden (1), Norway (2),
Iceland (3), Denmark (4), and
Finland (5). The primary
factors for this tendency are
government involvement and
culturally progressive
outlooks.
The World Economic
Forum administered a survey to
investigate the “gender gap”
in 58 selected countries from
around the world. They
analyzed disparities in five
categories: engagement in the
workforce, level of education
attained, degree of political
participation, economic
possibilities, and overall
wellness. By choosing these
categories, the forum was able
to go beyond the basics of
salary comparisons and look
for the contributing
circumstances such as
literacy. The results of this
survey placed Germany at
number 9, France at number 13,
the United States at 17, and
Egypt came in last at number
58, to give a few examples.
The Nordic welfare state has
been described as the
“woman-friendly welfare
state.” The governments of
these countries provide
extensive programs that make
it possible for women to
support families as well as
participating in the
workforce. For example, the
state provides childcare and
generous maternity leave for
its citizens. This structure
fosters a society in which the
women can be less restrained
by family obligations.
Furthermore, many Scandinavian
governments are enforcing
parental benefit quotas: the
father must take a certain
amount of parental leave to
allow the mother to work or
the couple will lose their
benefits.
The Scandinavian culture of
tolerance supplements this
foundation of assistance for
women. Annica Kronsell, a
researcher and professor in
the department of Political
Science at the Lund University
in Sweden, has written many
articles and completed
research concerning the gender
gap in various countries,
especially the Scandinavian
ones. Her research has
discovered that in contrast to
the EU, there is a popular
opinion “represented by
Scandinavian feminists
who
tend to view the state as
benevolent and open to women’s
concerns and agendas.” She
believes that because there
are more women representatives
in the government and more
extensive welfare policies,
the state is better able to
deal with women’s issues;
these specific policies and
outlooks are the reason that
the Scandinavian welfare state
is described as the
“woman-friendly welfare
state.” The EU countries, on
the other hand, are more
heavily represented in the
government by men, and the
focus of their policies is
also dominated by male
interests. Therefore, the
gender gap is not only felt
physically through the lack of
female government officers,
but also through the programs
the government establishes.
In Sweden, the government
appoints a 50:50 ratio of
female and male government
ministers. However, according
to the personal observations
of Jahn R. Hedberg, the Consul
of Sweden to the State of
Washington, this policy has
resulted in a “success in
Sweden [that] is because of
the government, but not
[found] in the private
sector.” The majority of
working Swedish women is
employed by the state, as
opposed to working for
independent companies. Hon.
Jahn Hedberg also commented “generally
speaking it is fair to say
that the Swedish women have
been in the workforce longer
than the women in this
country, but there are very
few [female] CEOs in Sweden as
opposed to here.” All Swedish
women work, but these women
are not necessarily ambitious
about pursuing prestigious
careers. The extensive
welfare programs and generous
maternity leave policies that
the Swedish government offers
allow the women to work and
support themselves without
needing to pursue top
positions.
Although the Scandinavian
countries have had more
success at achieving gender
equality than others, there is
still much room for
improvement. |
