Versión en Español
The board of directors. A hurdle for women.
The aim of the “Gobierna” programme, a high-executive course for women, is to overcome the shortage of women on the board of directors of companies, where currently 92% of the posts are held by men.
"It should be the norm, especially after Zapatero’s government declared the obligatory requirement of ensuring an equal number of men and women on the board of directors of large companies in his Equality Act. But the reality continues to be far removed from the political will. So it is no surprise that, to overcome this problem, an education initiative exclusively aimed at women has sprung up.
Insight to overcome barriers
The “Gobierna” programme is a high- executive course aimed at shaping female board members. An enormous challenge - considering that 92% of the posts still continue to be held by men.
""In 2006, when we started designing the programme, the share of women on boards of directors was 5%"", explains Olga Albaladejo Juárez, Director of 3Contigo, the company behind the initiative, together with the Intereconomía Group, Agathos and the Nebrija Business School.
This is just a small step forward, nothing compared with the ambitious objectives of the course, also because ""this change is due to the increase in the number of female non-executive directors. The rise in female executive directors –adds Albaladejo– is insignificant. That means that the increase is due to women’s genuine will to hold their legitimate place in the labour market, rather than to government policies"".
The mission of the “Gobierna” programme is to help narrow the gap between the business reality and a social reality in which, after all, 80% of the purchase decisions are made by women and more women than men obtain degrees in most branches of university education.
Developing multiple skills
The course, taught by the best experts in presenting insight and developing skills, includes individualised personal-enhancement programmes where the participants receive >coaching and work on personal-marketing and media-communication skills. To enable each participant to witness the impact of the programme at all levels, an individual follow-up is carried out through audiovisual media.
The course covers all the necessary aspects of training a professional female board member. In the knowledge-development area, the legal aspects of the board of directors are analysed, as well as the fundamental principles of macroeconomics, strategy, financial analysis and business indicators. In the area of skills development, emphasis is placed on such aspects as negotiation and leadership, communication, problem-solving, innovation and creativity. From the point of view of personal efficacy, the participants work on new emotional intelligence, networking and institutional protocol.
The price of the course –which is held on Friday afternoons between April and November– is 20,000 Euros. An investment which, as guaranteed by the organisers, could mark a turning point in one’s professional career.
""There is still a long road ahead to effective equality –concludes Olga Albaladejo–. However, our concern is not how soon we get there, but what we can do to move ahead. We want to get there through our own merits, capabilities and education. That is what the “Gobierna” programme is about""."
Enlaces de interés
•www.3contigo.com
•http://www.nebrija.com/escuela-negocios
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Published in Education and Training by Alessandro Oppes on 29/03/2010
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