Sweden is one of the best countries in the world when it comes to equality and gender issues, which is why it has been ranked as one of the top 10 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum every year since 2006. Sweden leads in political empowerment, economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, and health and survival. However, there are still many things that need to change to make an even bigger difference. One way to take a step closer to gender equality is to promote it in workplaces.

The Swedish government has declared itself a feminist government, and the country has a law against discrimination against women. But board rooms remain male-dominated.

We know that Sweden is a leader when it comes to gender equality, with a low pay gap between men and women. In Sweden, women earned 90.2 percent as much as men, or 95.6 percent, after accounting for differences in profession and sector in 2020.

However, many Swedes believe there is still much room for improvement at work.
That is why here we have mentioned three ways to improve gender equality in the workplace:

Consider a longer shortlist when recruiting

A recent study published by the Harvard Business Review, Nature: Human Behavior found that making the shortlist longer increased the proportion of female candidates from 15% to 20%, changing a 1:6 ratio of women to men to a 1:4 ratio.

The report found that when it comes to candidate selection, listing more female candidates was positively correlated with selecting more female candidates.

In our database, you can find a longer and more diverse list of experienced Board professionals and the new generation of Board members, the future leaders. You can also explore female candidates with Board and Management Team experience.

Close the gender pay gap

Being transparent about wages will ensure women do not earn less than men in equivalent roles. This will promote gender equality in the workplace.

Pay brackets can motivate female applicants and employees to negotiate their salaries by indicating what would be considered reasonable for a particular role.
M500 REMUNERATION offers access to experts who provide comprehensive and up-to-date information on Board member compensation, CEO compensation, and C-level executive compensation.

It gives you detailed information about male and female executives' base salaries, bonuses, commission payments, and other financial benefits.

Encourage performance-based assessments

Employers can ascertain a candidate's level of suitability by having them perform tasks that would be expected of them in the role for which they are applying. As a result, you gain valuable insight into candidates and can also reduce the risk of discrimination.

On a final note, Sweden is known for being one of the most gender-equal countries in the world. But many companies don't follow rules and gender equality isn't a top priority for them either. For Sweden to move forward toward this goal, it's up to businesses and corporations to step up to challenge how they can handle gender inequality differently within their companies.