Corporate Governance: Comparison on Role of Women in Pakistan and Norway. The world has experienced several changes in the past since the industrial revolution. In that period, there have been a lot of inventions and developments that have been of great importance in changing our society, as well as the way we live today, but one thing has still remained the same. Women have been at the center of our social development, and have had to go through a lot of hardships in many spheres of life.
A particular area of inequality which women have been struggling with is the corporate governance. This article analyzes the gender quotas in the boards of directors in Pakistan and Norway. These two countries have remarkable differences in their method of inclusion of women in the board of directors. In Pakistan, a quota is set for each class of the board of the directors. On the contrary, Norway has no known rule of the boards being set different for men and women regardless of whether they are at the senior management or the executive level.
People typically see gender segregation in companies as a problem because of the insufficiency of the diversity among the employees and shareholders. Nevertheless, the problem is not only confined to the boardrooms but it also happens on the streets. Moreover, companies can have policies that are basically to make sure the man are dominating the leadership positions, for instance, affirmative action. Thus, through this fact-based campaign, these organizations keep the notion that men are better and are more capable of leading than women. The policies give the idea that men should be given the chances to lead while the others are still struggling and trying to be a part of the second group.
Workplace Inclusivity
Lately, there has been a change in the workplace towards more inclusivity, which has thus resulted in greater awareness of the issues concerning the gender inequality. More lately, more individuals are finding out that gender-based discrimination is present in many fields of the society. For instance, it affects employment, education, healthcare, politics, and the other social institutions. This problem should be taken care of, as it is still affecting millions of people in the world. Income Inequality between Women and Men in Pakistan and Norway is the other aspects of the society.
Corporate Governance in Pakistan
In Pakistan, a quota is set for all directors who have the top executive positions, and they have to be from a particular group. The National Council of Working Life (NCWL) of Pakistan states that female members account for the 12% of the total number of seats on the Board of Directors. As the NCWL says, about 2 people are involved in the transporting of the dead from hospitals to crematoriums. 4 million women are in different sectors of the economy, working as employees.
Nonetheless, in the country, only 6% of the people live in urban areas. Out of every 100 seats on the local markets, 7 seats are occupied by women. On the other hand, men are the only ones that constitute about half of all jobs in the nation and they are 21% of the population. The UNDP has proven that the main reason women cannot access resources is because they are not allowed to, and hence they make up 15 percent of poverty in the country.
The World Bank has made it clear that in 2020, almost 70 percent of Pakistani households were in the state of extreme poverty. Besides, the UN Population Fund has set the fact that women in Pakistan are under bad health condition, violence, child marriage, sexual abuse, and no economic opportunity. Besides, the International Monetary Fund also shows that women have a longer lifespan than men, except the ones who were born before 1960, who have longer and better lives.
Corporate Governance in Norway
In Norway, they have established almost the same system. Apart from being chairmen of senior executive positions, gender quotas have been also introduced to the increase of the representation of women on the boards of the directors. As stated earlier, the Norwegian government implemented its Equal Treatment Act for both genders, with the main goal of the elastic board to mirror the diverse representation of the population. Therefore, the country has succeeded in being equal in terms of gender in board meetings and board appointments. Besides, the act made a law stating that there should be a required minimum age for the board members and no one under 18 can be a member of the company’s board.
According to a survey by Kommersant newspaper, women have had a huge participation in the public life in Norway which is a lot higher than the 1980s. The report pointed out that in the year of 2021, Norway’s total vote percentage was 28. Out of 75%, about 6% are men and 42% are women who hold the position of the parliamentarians. Besides, the nation also made noticeable strides in the field of civil rights and had women representing 37% of the political and state assemblies.
Moreover, the percentage of the country’s women’s participation in decision making has significantly improved over the last ten years, now at 53%. The National Institute of Statistics states women now account for 16% in Norway’s executive body, that is to say, they have the representative in the 16%. In addition, the report proved that women in Norway were two times more likely to vote than men in 2018 than 2016. Moreover, the results show that the country’s labor force has expanded by 1. In the said period, 9 percent of the students had a pass mark.
Women in Business in Norway
The most evident change in corporate governance of Norway is the way in which women take part in business decision making. The country has been for example successful in several tasks that were made to be the gender equality at the work place. A case in point is the obligation of training for the new employees and the establishment of the programs that enable women to join the trade negotiations too.
Another matter to be mentioned is that the nation has made tax exemptions for businesses that employ and promote women in their company. Generally, the successful decision making of a state is based on the proportion of the decision makers who are qualified, and, thus, when that happens, the positive outcomes are achieved.
Gender Equality in the Stocks Exchange
Gender Equality in the Stocks Exchange Market in Norway is the quest for equal distribution of man power in the entire exchange market, with its ultimate goal being for a balance between the genders. In the text it was stated that Norway has introduced gender quotas in its national markets. The reason for the very same is grounded in the belief that the females themselves are good for the economic growth. As a result, the financial industry in most countries is mostly male-dominated, while female industries have a smaller share in comparison to male firms. Besides, the capitalization rates of both genders in the Norwegian capital are low, which implies that the turnouts of this sector are quite small. Hence, the cutting of gender quotas makes it more possible for investors in industries that comprise mainly of stocks to invest in female-run institutions.
Perspectives on Gender Equality
When the issue of gender equality was raised in Corporate Governance. The CEO of Nasdaq Capital Markets said that there was no way you can run a business if you want a seat on the board. Although he admitted that this may not definitely be the true case, yet it still does emphasize the fact that corporations do not view the involvement of women in executive positions as related.
There are a lot of factors that contribute to this issue; for instance, firms are more concerned about expanding revenues and profits than they are about the opinions and viewpoints of the customers. In addition, women are more prone to stress and exhaustion because of the long working hours and the demanding schedules they have.
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All of the factors mentioned before are behind the fact that women are less productive. In a nutshell, the fact is that there is a requirement for gender equality within organizations, and memorably the boards, as they are the ones making the decisions on what investments, products, or services should be developed.
