Welcome to WomenInTechnologyLeadership.org!
The Women in Leadership and Information Society lead by INSEAD, The Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, and Microsoft, is a platform for professional and dynamic women, working at the European level (EU and EU Members). It provides high level women from various industries, administration and NGO’s the ability to network, exchange ideas, and best practices. The network also provides the opportunity for these women to profit from each other’s knowledge and experience while recognizing the need for, and actively fostering, higher participation of women, particularly in the economic world.
The Women and Leadership in the Information Society network believe that it is essential to work with and take advantage of the EU institutions, an area in which other women’s organizations do not invest enough, and which is especially important given that the European Union is responsible for over 70% of member country decisions. The EU is committed to the advancement of women in the economic and social sphere and working at EU level provides the opportunity to influence domestic policies of the member countries in a positive way through leveraging gender equality, public policies and private initiatives at the EU, state and local levels.
Although there have been many improvements in recent years, in the current business environment women are still much less represented than their male counterparts. There is an alarmingly small percentage of women in high level positions and in traditionally male dominated sectors, such as ICT; in the sciences industry for example, only approximately 19% of all graduates are female, (and the number has been decreasing by 4% per year), in the business sector the figures are not any better; for example just 14.8% of board members of all Fortune 500 companies are female, and out of all entrepreneurs in OECD and CEI countries women make up only about 25%.
In a society where ICT is becoming a crucial aspect of everyday life and business is increasingly perceived as the main measure of success, we need to recognize the need to take charge and actively improve the current situation. The Women and Leadership in the Information Society initiative is committed to fostering the participation of women in all aspects of life, focusing predominantly on entrepreneurship, skills and learning, as well as encouraging their participation in the information society. There are numerous groups in Europe, who are also passionate about these issues and are working hard to make a difference and the Women in Leadership and Information Society network aims to actively collaborate with these organizations, and add to their efforts.
Women and Leadership in the Information Society is a platform that not only provides women in high level roles from various professional and cultural backgrounds the opportunity to network and exchange ideas but also endeavors to create innovative ways that will help to bridge the societal gap and, working in partnership with companies, government departments and NGO’s, to proactively execute these ideas and make a positive impact on the lives of women around Europe.
While no core issue in regards to women in the business and working environment would be excluded, the group has identified the following themes to be addressed in the coming months:
Objectives
- Encouraging greater participation of women in research and information sciences - looking at changes that need to be made in education systems, as well as in attitudes of society to foster a greater participation as well as retention of girls and women in this industry.
- Fostering women’s employability through skills training and lifelong learning- looking at re-training and skills for women who are older and/ or re-entering the workforce.
- Supporting female entrepreneurship and venture capital- looking at support networks, financing, work/ life balance as well as role models and best practices.
Specific areas of work
- Education
- Entrepreneurship
- Skills and training
- Best Practices
Partners
- Microsoft
- INSEAD
- Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society
Future initiatives
- Support the EC initiative presented by Commissioner Reding on the “European Code of Best Practices for Women in ICT”.
- Take part in a high level roundtable discussion on July 7th at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris with the finalists of the female Imagine Cup (Imagine Cup is a worldwide student engineers competition bringing together more than 200 000 students), with the participation of Commissioner Jan Figel, Valérie Pecresse, the French Minister for High Education and Research as well as female high school students.
- Continue the informal exchange and create a network of interested practitioners and stakeholders to work on the various topics linked to empowering women in the information society.
- Interactions between meetings, in an ongoing way and virtually. Microsoft committed to set up an online forum of exchange and communication for this community of interest.
