AFAEMME organizes in Barcelona the Seminar-Workshop "Adding Value, Breaking Stereotypes"

On February 19th AFAEMME held the Seminar-Workshop "Adding Value, Breaking Stereotypes" in Barcelona. Two base lines were targeted in this event: gender equality related to business profits and gender equality as a competitive advantage in Europe.

The event was inaugurated by AFAEMME’s President, Mrs. Mª Helena de Felipe Lehtonen, who animated the assistants to rely on the Association of Mediterranean Businesswomen as their spokesperson and as a representative of gender equality projects in the labour market. AFAEMME works as a platform for gender projects where its member associations can find an effective way to invigorate their enterprise organizations and can thus transmit good business practices taken under the gender perspective.

The President of FEPIME Catalunya (the Federation of Employers of the Small and Medium Enterprise of Catalonia), Mr. Eusebi Cima i Mollet, made an introduction of the event and declared that “nowadays it is no longer so necessary to convince company managers that gender equality is economically profitable for their business, as the dynamic and evolution of the labour market has shown them - in a very obvious way mainly in the SMEs of Catalonia - that the incorporation of women in the labour market has been very positive and that the application of equality policies leads to employees producing in a much more profitable way for the company”.

Mrs. Carme Sanchez Martín, Director of the Unit of Promotion and Development of the Directorate of Equality of Opportunities at Work of the Government of Catalonia, commented that even though at present much has been achieved in this area, it is necessary to continue working because there are still male directives that are sceptics of data that reveal that gender equality is economically beneficial. “At present one only needs to pay attention to companies that are above others in terms of competitiveness and benefits; those are the companies that are applying gender and diversity policies. This is important because there are women who, in addition to gender discrimination, also suffer because they have some sort of handicap“.

The Seminar-Workshop counted, in addition, with a presentation given by Mrs. Beatriz Fdez-Tubau Rodés, Legal Adviser of AFAEMME, who spoke about the “Legal Environment of Gender Equality”. Apart form this, Mrs. Elizabeth Villagómez Morals, Gender and Business Expert of AFAEMME, spoke about the economic arguments in favour of gender equality, presented a series of business tools to work towards equality and conciliation of family and work life and organised a group dynamic to understand how gender stereotypes work. During the exercises that Mrs. Villagómez developed, the assistants were able to make a diagnosis on the main stereotypes that exist in the labour world, which prevent company managers from obtaining the maximum advantages of their group.

AFAEMME provided the assistants with the necessary tools and materials so that they replicate this seminar in their own companies, institutions or associations and thus contribute to the diffusion of the tools presented to them, tools which help SMEs detect the special talents of each one of their employees, regardless of their gender, and take the most advantage of its working group.

The next Seminar-Workshop “Adding Value, Breaking Stereotypes” will take place in Madrid in the month of May (date and place to confirm).