Women in Norway have been largely successful in gaining political influence. Thirty years ago, only 15 per cent of the representatives on the Storting (Norwegian national assembly) were women, whereas in recent years this figure has fluctuated between 36 and 39 per cent. The increased parity between women and men in decision-making is closely linked to education and employment opportunities for women. However, competence, experience, gender-friendly attitudes and goodwill are not sufficient in themselves. Experience indicates that the proportion of women in political institutions will not increase unless targeted measures such as special campaigns and gender quotas are employed.
A system of gender quotas was first adopted within the Socialist Left Party and the Liberal Party as far back as the 1970s. Today virtually all of the major Norwegian parties apply a gender quota system in nominations to elections as well as to the make-up of party-governing bodies at all levels. This quota system is voluntary and self-imposed. Norway does not have any legal provision for gender balance in political parties or directly elected bodies.
A quota system has also been introduced for publicly appointed committees, boards and councils. Thirty years ago, women comprised only 11 per cent of the representation of such assemblages. In 1981, provisions concerning a required gender balance in publicly appointed committees, etc., were introduced into the Gender Equality Act, and since 1988 there has been a requirement that representation be a minimum of 40 per cent of each gender. After the most recent amendment, the level of female representation improved from 22 per cent, reaching a stable 40 per cent in 1997.
In 1986, Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland appointed a Government featuring a record number of women. Since then, no Norwegian Government has been formed with less than 40 per cent women.
Gender representation on company boards
Figures from 2003 show that an average of 8.5 per cent of the board members (shareholder and employee-elected representatives) in public limited companies in the Norwegian private sector were women (July 2003), while the figure for state-owned companies was 45.7 per cent (March 2003).
In 1 January 2004, company legislation provisions regarding board representation for all state-owned companies was amended. It became mandatory for the boards of such enterprises to have a minimum of 40 per cent representation of each gender.
Corresponding amendments were also adopted for public limited companies in the private sector, but an agreement was signed with the business sector stipulating that these regulations would not come into effect if the desired gender balance was achieved voluntarily during the course of 2005. According to figures from Statistics Norway, there were 519 public limited companies in Norway as of 1 July 2005. Of these, 68 (13.1 per cent) satisfied the legal provisions relating to gender representation. The average women’s representation in the permanent board appointments (owner and employed elected) in Norwegian public limited companies was 15.5 per cent. In light of this, the Stoltenberg Government decided the implement the regulations as from 1 January 2006.
By way of comparison, figures from Statistics Norway show that close to 60 per cent of all students pursuing higher education are women, and that the number of women who have completed a four-year university or college education now exceeds the number of men.
The new legislation does not apply to private limited liability companies. In Norway, such companies mostly comprise small family companies in which the owners are natural persons who serve on their own boards. The legislation on gender representation is less suited to this type of company. In a public limited company, on the other hand, stock ownership will be more widely distributed and the company management is of a less personal nature.