Publications / Other reports / 2005 / 2005:006 Women towards ownership, in business and agriculture
Women towards ownership, in business and agriculture
This report is a comparative study on women’s ownership in business and agriculture in five countries. The five countries covered in this study, Hellas, Iceland, Latvia, Norway and Sweden are different in terms of climate and nature, history and culture. They are also different when it comes to social institutions, economies and politics of today. In this study we try to take into consideration country specific differences as well as similarities across countries. The aim of the study is twofold: First, to collect and analyse quantitative and qualitative information about the conditions, the problems and the ways to enhance women’s active and effective performance of ownership, and secondly to provide a set of systematic knowledge on the issue with the aim at stimulating public debate among policy makers, women owners and their associations on barriers, opportunities and ways of action.The issue of women and ownership is also an important topic at the political agenda. If women are to be on an equal footing in business and agriculture access and full exercise of ownership is vital. And it is also a question of democracy, influence and power. However, as pointed out, there is relatively little knowledge in all the five countries about women’s ownership, about how they achieve access to ownership and how they perform ownership. The lack of both quantitative and qualitative information, particularly gender-segregated data, in this field is striking. Hopefully, this study will contribute to put the issue, women and ownership, more in focus.This report is published with support from the European Community – Programme relating tothe Community Framework Strategy on Gender Equality (2001–2005).