Are women underrepresented in minorities when it comes to the high posts? How equal is it in our organisations? We wanted to find out that with the FUEN Women of Minorities Survey 2022. The analysis of the results confirmed the impression we often get at FUEN events: in principle, women are well represented in the organisations, mainly in the operational area. However, men dominate in leadership positions, i.e., presidiums or boards. "While men have taken the leadership positions, women do the work," Zora Popova, scientific consultant and project leader, summarised.
The results and the great interest of many of our member organisations showed quite clearly that there is a need for talk and action here. The project "Women of Minorities" is therefore entering the next phase, and the kick-off for this was an online meeting on 12 July, which focused on the desired contents of the interested parties as well as concrete projects. Eighteen participants from nine countries, representing 12 minorities, took part in the virtual meeting, including FUEN Vice-President Olivia Schubert, who began by emphasising the great relevance of the topic, especially in Eastern Europe.
Learning from the experiences of others, getting inspiration and networking on the topic of gender equality and gender justice were the wishes of most participants. While some are proud of very good quotas of women in their organisations and leadership positions, others criticise their lack of representation and a lack of culture to want to change this. They often lack courage and support and perhaps lack strong role models.
Photo: Screenshot Online-Meeting