The seminar was organised by the National Council of Women on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of its establishment, in collaboration, with the Malta Employers’ Association and the Foundation for Human Resources Development.
The keynote speaker was Dr Val Singh, a senior researcher in organisational behaviour who heads the research department at the Centre for Developing Women Business Leaders at Cranfield School of Management in the UK.
In her address, she said that as the war for talents goes global – with a number of companies merging and others setting up strategic alliances – women and ethnic minorities are playing an increasing role in the business world.
She said some countries, such as Malta, are battling with gendered roles and expectations, adding that there are few women who are engaged in full-time employment. Most of the boards of directors of FTSE 100 companies (the index of the top 100 companies on the London Stock Exchange) are male.
Dr Singh explained that a
survey conducted among chairmen of large companies produced comments such as “it would be nice to have a woman on the board” and “it would be useful to have a woman on the board because she can represent the customer”.
Dr Singh described diversity as “the sum of potential to be found in any group of people because of their uniqueness”.
She said girls at school were still underplaying their achievements and underestimating their strengths and they demand less time from their teachers.
Speaking about male leaders, Dr Singh said these need to be more gender aware, not to stereotype and understand gender-different patterns of behaviour. She said male leaders should encourage the retention of women via flexibility and empowerment.
Women, said Dr Singh, can change the situation if they are aware of the problems and take control.
She said the male model of leadership still prevails, with sex-role stereotyping of leadership as masculine. She added that organisations are wasting a large resource by not developing and stretching the latent talents of women employees.
Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina also addressed the seminar. She said that achieving the goal of equal participation of all members of society at all levels of decision-making would result in a more accurate reflection of today’s needs.
Equal participation also performs an important leverage function, she said, without which it is highly unlikely that a real integration of the equality dimension in policy-making is feasible.
Mrs Cristina said that research has shown that the benefits of eliminating discrimination in the workplace goes beyond the individual workers because it also benefits the economy and the society as a whole. “Workers who enjoy equal treatment and equal opportunities improve the efficient use of human resources and diverse talents. This in turn provides motivation, leading to better labour relations and overall productivity,” she said.
She continued: “The elimination of discrimination at work is an indispensable component of any strategy for poverty reduction and sustainable development. A number of significant legislative landmarks have gone a long way towards changing the climate: the Equal Opportunities Act, the Employment and Industrial Relations Act and the Equality for Men and Women Act.”
Despite these developments, Mrs Cristina said, the female activity rate is still low by European standards and women’s employment is concentrated in specific sectors and
levels of occupation.