In September, the FEMINA stakeholder group in Dalarna met to talk about gender equality in general as well as good examples to promote equality in the industry. Attending the meeting were people from the University of Dalarna, Dalarna Science Park, Dalarna Region, Samarkand, and FindIT.
One issue that was discussed on several occasions was horizontal criteria and the requirements set for projects. Several of those currently working on projects find that the requirements are too low and that there is no training and support in how horizontal criteria should be integrated.
There was a discussion about how we talk about gender equality and in which forums the issue is raised. In order to be heard and taken seriously, the proposal is raised to talk about it in terms of financial and skills supply, and perhaps to talk about leadership development rather than gender equality education. Questions must be and become a leadership issue, we can contribute to it through how and in what contexts we talk about it.
Examples of good practice that were brought up were among others small things we can do in our everyday work such as to point out when our own organizations organize conferences that are poor in terms of gender equality and make sure to always have the issue of equality as a standing point on the agenda. One participant informed about how one company has done gender equality work with good results. They had interviewed all the women why had quit recently and then made efforts based on what emerged. Norms and culture became clear, for example, that women are perceived as angry and bitchy while men are perceived as straight forward, showing the same behavior.
The project leader also presented the good practice that will be presented av the FEMINA convention in Norway, Tekniksprånget. They offer internships for young people who are interested in engineering, and 50% of the admitted are female.
