Increase of women in leading position is slow and demotivating

One of the topics of Wednesday's mini plenary session of the European Parliament will be a directive proposal concerning the equal representation of women in leading positions in companies, which was developed by the Commission back in 2012, but member states still haven't found the time to discuss it. Between 2012-14, the EU-wide share of women in management positions increased by 2 percent but still didn't even represent one fifth of the total. "The progress in this area is incredibly slow and demotivating. The rise in the number of educated women, who represent the majority of those that graduate from university, doesn't help either," said Slovak MEP Monika Flašíková-Beňová, adding that the situation differs from country to country. It's been proven that a hike in the proportion of women in leading positions can have a positive impact on company performance, however persisting stereotypes, a lack of transparency in job interviews and promotions and insufficient support for balancing family and job are all preventing this issue from being resolved. " It would be helpful if top officials from EU-member states spoke their minds after almost three years," said Slovak MEP Flašíková-Beňová.