It sounds impossible, but it’s true.
For all the myths of equality that Europe tells itself, the Continent is
by and large a woeful place for a woman who aspires to lead.
According to a paper published by the International Labor
Organization June 2005, women account for 45% of high-level
decision makers in America, including legislators, senior officials and
managers across all types of business.
In the U.K., women hold 33% of those jobs.
In Sweden (supposedly the very model of global gender equality) they hold 29%.
Germany comes in at just 27%.
Italian women hold a pathetic 18% of power jobs.
Women make up 57% of the EU 15’s work force,
lower than the U.S. rate of 65%, but not dramatically so.
The real problem is that Europe has been consistently unable to tap
the highest potential of its female workers, who represent half of
college graduates in most countries.
Women, it seems, can have a job, but not a high-powered career.
(by Rana Foroohar, ‘Newsweek’ February 27, 2006)
