Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-11-05-Speech-3-150"
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"en.20031105.11.3-150"2
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"Mr President, first of all, I wish to thank Mrs Karamanou for her work on this report on women in the new information society. As we know, globalisation and the information and communications technologies (ICT) have dramatically changed all areas of social and professional life in Europe. More than half of all people working today use computers in their professional lives, 40% of Europeans use the Internet and, in the last five years, more than 60% of all new jobs created in the Union have been in the high-tech sectors. One fact leaps out from these figures: there will be no real need for workers who do not have the necessary education to use the new technologies.
Progress has been made in the field of gender equality, with almost as many women (46%) using computers as men (54%), and the situation is similar as regards the Internet. The gap between men and women is growing within disadvantaged groups, however.
The new technologies offer new opportunities for jobs and for people’s working lives, including teleworking which, at least in theory, can help women and men better to reconcile family and working life. Although women appear to be more interested in teleworking now, they are still not making great use of it, so much remains to be done in this area.
Men occupy two-thirds of all jobs in new technology sectors. Only 15% of professionals in this sector are women, and the figures are more or less the same when it comes to education. In some countries, less than 30% of women go on to study the new technologies in higher education. Women account for 19% of doctorates in computing, and the percentage of women setting up their own businesses is much lower. In the world of business, the higher up the decision-making ladder you go, the fewer women you find in the new information sector, although I believe this is to some extent the case in all sectors.
In this context, the Lisbon strategy and the European Social Policy Agenda and the Employment Strategy have played a significant role in promoting women’s access to the information society, including all the steps adopted by Education Ministers at national and European level. By the same token, the Framework Strategy for Gender Equality encourages an employability-oriented approach and women’s access to jobs in the new technologies sector. A number of other Community-funded programmes also promote gender equality, and the social partners have a key role to play in supporting women’s participation in the information society. If we want to achieve results, all of these policies clearly need to be consolidated and, in this, the Commission’s role is crucial, but all parties involved at all levels must seize the opportunity represented by the new knowledge-based society to ensure that men and women are equally represented in the sector.
To my mind, all future action should hinge on three priorities. First of all, it should focus on finding a place for women everywhere and in all social situations. Secondly, emphasis should be placed on education and training. Thirdly, work must be done to improve the rate of employment for women and the percentage of women setting up their own businesses in the new technology sector. As I said at the beginning of this speech, particular attention must be paid to women who risk being excluded from the information society, including women who are older, unemployed or on a low income, women who are immigrants or who have disabilities and, above all, women who have not received sufficient education. The necessary infrastructure must be established in towns and at regional and local level. Improving access to broadband connections can prevent exclusion in both urban and rural areas. Access to the new technologies in all areas must not be confined to helping women to find new jobs. By promoting new working methods, new ways of organising work, such action will also create the conditions necessary to bring about change in current employment practices. I have already mentioned teleworking, but the quality of work and the level of work satisfaction could also be improved. Finally, it could further integrate women into the labour force. Increasing the participation of women in the labour market is crucial to attaining the objectives set in Lisbon and significantly improving enterprise creation could make a real change to the hand women are dealt. We must improve the role women are given in the fields of ownership, supervision and management in the ICT and media sectors, by providing the necessary assistance to women who set up their own businesses, by funding projects and by cooperating on implementing action plans, particularly in knowledge-based sectors, by supporting awareness-raising campaigns and by encouraging women to grasp job opportunities in the new technologies sector, once they are trained. We must establish conditions that will enable all women to participate in employment, including mothers of young children, older women and women with disabilities. In order to achieve equality between men and women, women’s representation in the market must be improved, but in itself, this is not enough. Women must also play a major role in decision-making bodies and in society in general. As regards the new technologies, real changes in the field of gender equality will only be truly effective when women also occupy senior positions in this sector.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this action requires partnership and practical action. Increasing the participation of women in the information society is an issue that concerns everyone. The Commission, the European Parliament, governments, regional and local authorities, the unions and employers all share this responsibility, which the Commission hopes everyone will shoulder."@en1
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