A Eurasian Community of Women Leaders: Cooperation in the Name of Change
KEY CONCLUSIONS
Leadership in successful societies and successful companies should equally consist of men and women
"A male politician is a combination of will and intelligence, while a female politician is a combination of intelligence and conscience, and only together we are a combination of will, intelligence and conscience in politics," Galina Karelova, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
"Companies should be balanced, where with half male and half female employees. In this case this company is doomed for success," Tatiana Gvilava, Director of Russian-Arab Business Council; President of All Russia Organization for Women in Business.
"If we talk about the natural build of the society, a natural one should be split evenly between male and female leaders. Now our situation is changing. <...> We can create such a society, where we’ll get to this fifty-fifty split," Harumi Takahashi, Governor of Hokkaido Prefecture.
Women are stronger than men by nature and they work better
"Women by their mere nature are much stronger than men, because we get sick less when we’re old and we can multitask, we can do so many things at once, and men can do only one thing at a time," Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, Chief Executive Officer of an Internationally Operating Private Historical Fortune
"Female leaders are mothers of business. We are not only engaged in business, we are mothers to all people who answer to us,” Armi Lopez Garcia, Chairperson, Philippine-Russian Business Assembly Inc
"There are more and more women in colleges and universities, and they achieve better results. They have more ambitions, and they try to achieve certain goals in their education. 57% of US graduates nowadays are women," Klaske de Jonge, Group Director Public Affairs & Communications, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company
"When in leading positions we can do more than men can. We invest more in infrastructure than they do, because we have a vision that goes further," Chiara Corazza, Managing Director of Women's Forum for the Economy & Society.
"Women have more endurance. It is emotional intelligence that is very important, because we’re more empathetic, we understand people better, we can forgive, we can take risks, we are more flexible," Marina Jigalova-Ozkan, General Director, The Walt Disney Company CIS LLC
PROBLEMS
It is more difficult for women to get high positions in companies and government entities
"Fewer women are hired than men, and this goes up higher. We need to understand that this bias exists, and we must make sure that we hire as many women as men from the very beginning of our career. <...> But if you look at the number of women who reach senior positions in companies, it is only 48%," Klaske de Jonge.
"It's more difficult for us to become successful, we have to work harder," - Tinatin Kandelaki, General Producer of Match TV.
"Just 25 women around the world work in major cities as mayors. <...> Women need to begin to occupy such positions, take part in these processes. <...> If there is more quality, it will be possible to create 240 million jobs for women just by 2025. This is not just equality, it's more because it will be USD 12 trillion of the global GDP. It will be an economic and political mistake if women do not step up to this task," Chiara Corazza.
"Only 11 women nowadays are heads of state. This is unfair, this is inequality," Chiara Corazza.
"A woman as governor is uncommon in Japan. <...> In Japan the extent of women's participation in both business and politics is very small, that's for sure. As for choosing the candidates, it is very difficult to choose, and even women candidates are rare. I ran for governor’s office four times, I have a lot of experience in this respect," Harumi Takahashi.
SOLUTIONS
Mentality change
"The main challenge is cultural change. There must be a change in mentality to accept the leadership of women in order to change this potential," Armi Lopez Garcia
"In our company for many years there has been a global initiative to develop the role of women, and not only in management, and not only in the creative component, but also in what stories we tell our viewers. These are the stories that inspire, and these stories have role models. If you noticed, in recent years in a lot of Disney stories and films the female role has become dominant. <...> I have been running the company for 12 years, we actually have more women on top management positions in Russia," Marina Jigalova-Ozkan
Launch of projects aimed at increasing the importance of women in society
"After the first Eurasian Women's Forum which was 3 years ago, 12 major projects were launched. They include Women for Health and Women-entrepreneurs, Women of Science. <...> And most importantly — almost all projects are international. Particularly, together with the American women who were at the Eurasian Women's Forum, we launched a powerful project Women in STEM. It is the promotion of girls and women to informatization," Galina Karelova.
More detailed information is available on the website of the Roscongress Foundation information and analytical system.
