Glass Ceiling

ENGLISH PRESENTATION

MATS

Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Today, Nick and I will be talking about the glass ceiling and focus on women in top corporate positions. We'll attempt to explain to you as good as possible what this phenomenon represents in the modern corporate world and also briefly walk you through the cultural aspects of this subject. We hope that the next few minutes will be as educational for you as it was for us making this presentation.

NICK

First off, let's have a look at the numbers. What percentage of corporate board positions in Europe do you think are held by women? (publiek laten raden) Only fifteen percent of these positions are filled by women. In Europe, women hold on average a quarter of the parliament seats, but represent 52% of the population. It comes as no surprise that the European Union is making plans to tackle this enormous gap. But, why do woman, especially at the lower management positions, need more women at the top?

MATS

Women filling lower management positions need more women at the top because having more women on boards of directors is associated with more women in executive positions, more women-friendly benefits packages, and better maternity leave. These correlations were found by elaborate research of several companies in different industries. More women on top means they can open the door for other women to advance up the ladder and believe in building a better and brighter career. The silver lining about advancing women into top management positions is that companies who do so tend to do better.

NICK

But as of today, this glass ceiling is still firmly in place. Like we've shown earlier, with the numbers supplied by the European Union, women are still not advancing to the highest levels of the corporate society. This has several reasons. First off, women have less access to the informal networks formed at the top. These social networks are mostly nurtured through informal meetings at locations and establishments that are typically male, like golf courses or cigar bars. Secondly, a lack of expatriate experience hands females a serious disadvantage compared to their male counterparts. Combined with the fact that females have a better chance of getting these assignments when there are females at the top level, this creates a vicious cycle. Third and last, there's still a lot bias, or discrimination if you will, towards women and leadership. Male company leaders still often see other men as better leaders.

MATS

Also, when women are at the top, they could fall down it at any moment. This particular phenomenon can be described as a glass cliff. You don't necessarily see that these women are balancing on the edge of this cliff, but the threat