DN Dinheiro Vivo entrevistou Soroptimistas para saber "Onde mandam as mulheres?"

Onde mandam as mulheres? Ainda é onde os homens querem - Dinheiro Vivo
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Sandra Correia, Kim Sawyer, Ulla Madsen, Mariana Abrantes de Sousa, Estela Barbot e Maria Cândida Rocha e Silva  D.R.  30/05/2015 | 00:00 |  Dinheiro Vivo

Da próxima vez que for ao cinema, faça um teste. O filme que está a ver tem duas mulheres que falam uma com a outra sobre qualquer assunto que não diga respeito a um homem? Se a resposta for sim a estes três critérios, parabéns, o filme passou o Teste Bechdel. Agora, os números: numa lista de 5913 filmes avaliados desde 2013, 3407 cumprem os três requisitos. É mais de metade, é verdade. Mas também é verdade que quase metade dos filmes que vemos não tem uma única mulher capaz de falar com outra sobre qualquer coisa que não o namorado. Não é por acaso. A subrepresentação das mulheres é uma realidade no cinema porque é uma realidade na sociedade: nos cargos de administração das empresas, nos cargos de liderança não executivos, nos governos. Há dois sítios onde são a maioria: na população total e na população licenciada.

Portugal não é exceção. Mais de cinco décadas depois de as mulheres casadas já não serem obrigadas a pedir autorização aos maridos para saírem do país, o Governo começou a implementar a obrigatoriedade de uma quota mínima de cada género nas entidades reguladoras. Não em todas; o Banco de Portugal tem um "estatuto especial" e, por isso, só deve procurar "tendencialmente" uma percentagem mínima de mulheres na administração. Mas a imposição de quotas tem sido vista, em Portugal e na Europa, como a solução para a subrepresentação e, por cá, poderá até vir a ser alargada às empresas cotadas; mesmo que, para já, as empresas sejam apenas convidadas a assumir um compromisso voluntário para aumentar a representação das mulheres nos conselhos de administração para um terço até 2018 (ver entrevista à secretária de Estado da Igualdade). Perguntámos a sete mulheres a sua opinião sobre o sistema de quotas e temos uma resposta: num país ideal, não o usariam; aqui, não veem alternativa.

"Há um lugar reservado no inferno para as mulheres que não estão a ajudar outras mulheres". Ulla Madsen diz isto com um sorriso. Não deseja realmente o inferno a ninguém, mas há uma coisa de que não tem dúvidas. "Os homens têm a sua rede de conhecimentos a funcionar desde sempre. Recomendam-se uns aos outros e são muito bons nisso. É aí que temos de fazer alguma coisa. As mulheres que estão na liderança têm de puxar outras mulheres", afirma.

Quando não há mulheres no topo, são os homens que têm de contrariar a própria natureza humana. "Os processos de seleção favorecem as pessoas como nós", diz a economista Mariana Abrantes de Sousa. "Se eu for contratar alguém, se calhar, entre três pessoas, vou escolher aquela com quem eu me dou bem, que, provavelmente, será uma pessoa muito parecida comigo". Esta é uma "tendência natural", mas "compete-nos contrariá-la".

Se dúvidas houver, os estudos dissipam-nas. As empresas da lista Fortune 500 com maior representação de mulheres nas direções têm uma prestação financeira  ....
...O que é que não mudou? "A forma de escolher os líderes, gestores, reguladores e políticos", diz. Não mudou "a tradição dos homens de confiança".

Rafaela Burd Relvas com Tiago Figueiredo Silva

O valor da diversidade é tangível e mede-se pelos resultados!
Queiram ver o artigo completo em Onde mandam as mulheres? Ainda é onde os homens querem - Dinheiro Vivo  

Where are women in charge ? Where man want

The next time you go to the movies, take a test. In the movie you are watching, are there two women, talking to each other, about anything that does not relate to a man? If the answer is yes to these three criteria, congratulations, the film passed the Bechdel Test. Now the numbers: a list of 5 913 films evaluated since 2013, 3 407 meet the three requirements. It is more than half, it is true. But it is also true that in nearly half of the films that we see not a single woman is able to talk about anything other than the boyfriend. It is no coincidence. The under-representation of women is a reality in film because it is a reality in society: in positions of management of the companies, the non-executive leadership positions in government. There are two areas in which women are in the majority in the total population and in the university graduates..

Portugal is no exception. More than five decades after married women no longer needed to request permission frpm their husbands to leave the country, the government began implementing the requirement of a minimum diversity of gender in regulatory agencies. Not all; Banco de Portugal has a "special status" and therefore  is only required to “work towads” a a minimum percentage of women on its board. But the imposition of quotas has been seen in Portugal and in Europe, as the solution to the under-representation.  In Portugal, it may even   be extended to listed companies; even if, for now, companies are only asked to make a voluntary commitment to increasing  women's representation on boards of directors to one-third by 2018 (see interview with Secretary of State for Equality). We asked seven women for their views on the quota system and have an answer: in an ideal country, it need not be used  ; here in Portugal, they see no alternative to quotas.

"There is a place reserved in hell for women who do not help other women". Ulla Madsen says this with a smile. Not that she wishes that on anybody,   but there is one thing that has no doubt. "Men have their contact networks always at  work.  They recommend each other and are very good at it. That's where we have to do something. Women who are in the lead have to pull up other women," she says. And when there are no women at the top, it is men who have to counter human nature itself. "The selection processes favor people like oursevle," says economist Mariana Abrantes de Sousa. "If I’m hiring someone, maybe among three people, I will choose the one with whom I get along well, and it will probably be a person very similar to me." This is a "natural tendency", but "it behooves us to counteract it [for the sake of diversity]."

If there are any doubts, the studies dissipate them. Fortune 500 companies with the highest representation of women on Board  have better financial performance than companies with less diversity. In fact, says the consulting company McKinsey, companies who bet on diversity are 15% more likely to have good financial results. There is no reason not to include women on their Boards. Or is there? There are cultural and religious aspects, to start, says Estela Barbot. "Many women, to be competitive, betting on a career and choosing not to start a family or postponing having children,  implies a cost for them, also with serious consequences for society," says REN's manager and former adviser to the IMF. And "it's not for lack of preparation," adds Maria Cândia Rocha e Silva, who holds the presidency of the Bank Carregosa board of directors. It is that "traditionally, men have more time, they do not rush home to finish dinner". And, "however much you already see different examples, the woman retains maind responsibilty for family life, which leaves you less time to devote to their professional ambition."

If it is hard to see where the problem begins, but it is not easier to know where it ends. Not in large companies, nor in small. Even in startups, where women can lead their own businesses, most CEO are men. Lack of confidence is the first problem, say the women with whom the Dinheiro Vivo spoke. The more difficult access to finance is another, aggravated by the lack of women in the technology sector, one of the leading entrepreneurial ecosystems. But above all, "until the disproportionate burden of family responsibilities on women switch to a more equalitarian distribution between men and women, it will be difficult to increase the number of successful entrepreneurs," said  Kim Sawyer, wife of the US Ambassador to Portugal and project mentor of Connect to Success, which supports women entrepreneurs. In Portugal, she says, there is a tendency to hinder  entrepreneurs. It is the "I can’t" attitude. But to the embaixatriz, it is clear that Portuguese women have "entrepreneurial spirit".

Sandra Correia is an example. In 2003, she founded   Pelcor, branded fashion accessories in Cork. In addition to being a woman, the youth also counted against her. I was 32 years old and others look on me with "suspicion". Today, she is invited to participate in conferences where the PSI 20 companies and sits invariably alongside men. "I'm the only woman among them. I am very well treated, but my ambition is only to live up to men, but to be better." And sheguarantees, "I always say what I have to say, no matter what." This is also one of the features that othe interviewees believ define women. "Men are very hierarchical, they follow what the boss says. Women can  be independent-minded, disruptive," says Mariana Abrantes de Sousa. "They know how to listen more" and have "an intuition with which can lead to good business," says Sandra Correia. Men, meanwhile, are more persistent and colder in their decision-making. They are more focused on the goals, they have a greater sense of responsibility.

Together, what could we achieve? What would a country where equality was full? It would be a country economically "more productive," says  Teresa Morais,  Secretary of State forEquality. It would be a country where men and women would boost women would boost men, says Ulla Madsen.

This Danish executive worked all her life in the world of men in banking. She is president of the women's group Soroptimist International of Europe and, which came to Lisbon this week  for the annual meeting of Soroptimist. The conversation with Dinheiro Vivo began with a statement: "I am against quotas." When  confronted with the reality of Portugal, where not one of the 18 companies in the PSI 20 has a female CEO and where only 34.6% of management positions (not including only the board) of all companies are held by women, she acknowledged: "In my country, the change happened naturally, they looked for the best and saw that they were promoting diversity. But when you start from scratch, quotas can be a place to start."   Sandra Correia would add: "If there is no obligation, people will not do anything to change."

But how to reach the top? "With merit " says  Estela Barbot. "But it requires a huge effort and a woman must show ability, since there is still the mindset that a woman's place is at home and, if that is the woman's choice, not an imposition, it must be respected" she admits.

The arguments in defense of gender equality do not fit in the pages of a newspaper,. After all, you can only think of the question. "If we were satisfied with the way we have been governed, would we need to change?" Asked Mariana Abrantes de Sousa. "We are not poor by chance. We destroyed immense value in the last 10 years by a series of errors. If we do not want to repeat the same mistakes, we better change," says the economist. And what has not yet changed? "The way we choose our leaders, managers, regulators and politicians," she says. What has not change is the  tradition of “men of confidence."

Rafaela Burd Relvas with Tiago Figueiredo Silva