Women are TOP!

Women are better educated than ever before, however they are still underrepresented in decision making and senior management positions. According to the "Frauen.Management.Report" (women management report, in German only) conducted annually by the Austrian Chamber of Labour since 2005, the share of women in management in the top 200 companies in Austria was 8.9 percent in March 2022. Of the board members of the top 200 companies, 24.7 percent were female. 

The project "Women are TOP! To the top by innovative corporate cultures", was co-financed by the European Commission, and developed measures relating to boards of directors and executive leading and management positions, to promote gender equality in organisational cultures.

Appropriate political general conditions for supporting women in leading positions are important prerequisites that have to be provided primarily on company level. Companies were strongly involved in this project to facilitate adequate corporate cultures promoting gender equality. Via the close co-operation with small, medium-sized and larger companies in Austria, models were tested, experiences collected, and ways to identify best matches for leading positions were detected.

Drawing from the expertise of social partners, relevant decision makers in equal treatment policy, and national and international experts, the project results specified support programmes for women in leading positions and created innovative methods of critical reflection of everyday company practices.

The project was coordinated by the Directorate General for Women and Equality. The project’s co-operation partners were the Institute for Gender and Diversity in Organisations at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and the working life research centre FORBA.

Duration
September 2013 – April 2015

Contact
int.frauen@bka.gv.at 

Documents and Links

Events and summaries

The event series organised by FORBA presented research results and good practice examples for increasing women’s share in management positions in Vienna, Salzburg and Graz.

Documents and Links

The conference "Promoting gender balance in decision making" was organised in the framework of the Italian PROGRESS project.

This project is supported by the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity - PROGRESS (2007-2013). This programme is implemented by the European Commission. It was established to financially support the implementation of the objectives of the European Union in the employment, social affairs and equal opportunities area, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals in these fields. The seven-year Programme targets all stakeholders who can help shape the development of appropriate and effective employment and social legislation and policies, across the EU-27, EFTA-EEA and EU candidate and pre-candidate countries.

The contents of this webpage are the sole responsibility of the Federal Chancellery and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission.

Co-funded by the PROGRESS programme of the European Union.