Interview With Karita Bekkemellem: Gender Equality in The Workforce, Spring 2007

In 2004, Norway introduced a 40 percent gender representation quota for the board members of state owned companies and privately owned public limited companies. In this interview with TPQ, the Minister who has led this initiative explains why this was necessary and articulates where the future lies for gender  equality in the country.

“The silliest thing I hear is that we don’t have enough qualified women. In Norway,there are a high number of women in paid work and Norwegian women are highly educated. The reason is not that we do not have enough qualified women –indeed we do– it is that women’s competence is often ignored. We regard the legislation regarding women on companies’ boards as an important step towards equality between the sexes, a more balanced distribution of power, and a fairer and wealthier society."

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