Equal opportunities and gender equality the Finnish experience Kaisa Kauppinen Professor FINLAND: A

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Equal opportunities and gender equality - the
Finnish experienceKaisa KauppinenProfessorFIN
LAND A COUNTRY THAT CARES ABOUT ITS HUMAN
POTENTIAL - Seminar 15.11.2006 Bratislava
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Human Development Index (HDI)

• Life expectancy at birth
• Adult literacy rate
• Combined gross enrolment ratio for primary,
  secondary and tertiary schools
• GDP per capita
• Rank
• Norway 1.
• Iceland 2.
• Sweden 5.
• Finland ranks 11. with Switzerland and the
  Netherlands
• Slovakia 42.

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Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM)

• Seats in parliament held by women
• Female legislators, senior officials and managers
• Female professional and technical workers
• Ratio of estimated female to male earned income
• Rank
• Norway 1.
• Sweden 2.
• Iceland 3.
• Denmark 4.

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Women's Empowerment Measuring the Global Gender
Gap

• Economic participation and opportunity outcomes
  on salaries, participation levels and access to
  high-skilled employment
• Educational attainment outcomes on access to
  basic and higher level education
• Political empowerment outcomes on
  representation in decision-making structures
• Health and survival outcomes on life expectancy
  and sex ratio
• Rank
• Sweden 1.
• Norway 2.
• Iceland 3.
• Denmark 4.

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Optimism about the future
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Social trust
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Two important issues

• Investment in education
• Women's political participation

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Women's political participation

• In Finland women received the right to vote and
  stand for election in 1906
• The first country in the world
• In the first parliament 19 women were elected of
  200

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Milestones of Education in Finland

• 1600's People schools were arranged by the
  clergy
• 1640 The first university was founded
• 1860's Elementary school legislation was
  established
• 1880's Upper secondary school legislation was
  founded
• 1890's The first elementary school teachers'
  academy was started
• 1901 Women were permitted to enrol university
  without dispensation.
• 1916 Women were permitted to become university
  teachers
• 1920's Compulsory education for all
• 1960's Comprehensive school curriculum
• 1990's New legislation on basic education
• 2000 The network of Finnish universities (20)
  covers the entire country.
• 2003 Finnish students excel in OECD literacy
  PISA survey. They came out in top in
  mathematics, reading and problem-solving
  skills (Program for International Student
  Assessment).

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Milestones for Women in Finland "Own work, own
money" has been important for Finnish women

• 1889 Married women were granted the right to
  manage their own income.
• 1897 Women were permitted to practice medicine.
  Today some 60 of all physicians are women in
  Finland.
• 1906 Women were granted full political rights.
• 1907 The first elections for the unicameral
  Parliament.
• 1926 The first woman minister was appointed to
  the Finnish Government.
• 1930 Marriage Act granting legal equality of
  spouses.
• 1970 Ratification of UN Convention on banning all
  discrimination against women.
• 1995 Amendment to the Equality Act stipulates a
  40 quota of women in municipal boards,
  municipal administration and government
  committees.
• 2000 Tarja Halonen became the first woman to be
  elected president of Finland.
• 2003 Seventeen ministers, eight of them women,
  were appointed to the Government after the 2003
  elections.
• 2006 Tarja Halonen was re-elected as president of
  Finland.

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Some consequences of a woman president

• Breaking of the glass ceiling
• More visibility
• One of the 100 most powerful women in politics
  (www.Forbes.wom)
• Strong identification figure for (young) women

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Gender Equality Barometer 2004

• Your opinion of the current situation in which
  Finland has a woman president for the first time.
  How significant do you consider this?

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Strong identification figure for (young) women
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• Thank you very much!
• www.monikko.fi
• www.ttl.fi/perhejatyo