WomEngage started in 2016 as a cross-sectoral initiative with the goal of creating a meeting place between business and politics that results in better conditions for women to start up and run businesses. As a country, Sweden has good conditions for women to start and manage companies, and compared to many other countries it has made a lot of progress with its gender equality work. In 2016, Sweden came in fourth place in the World Economic Forum’s survey of the world's most gender-equal countries. Although Sweden is one of the world's most gender-equal countries, only just over 30 per cent of all Swedish business operators are women. The same figure in 1980 was 25 per cent, which means that the proportion of female business operators has grown slowly, despite the conditions having improved considerably since 1980. In 2017, the level of entrepreneurship decreased in Sweden, a result that was solely due to reduced entrepreneurship among women.
The fact that only about 30 per cent of all companies in Sweden are started by women is far too low a figure. Despite this, the issue does not feature in the political debate. What is the reason for the low proportion of female business operators and what can and should politicians do to make sure that this figure corresponds to something we can be proud of? The issue is of course a complex one, but it must be addressed in politics. That is the purpose of WomEngage.
Helena Lindahl, Member of Parliament and spokesperson on business policy (Centre Party), is the initiator of WomEngage and organises an annual conference and a number of seminars all over Sweden together with WomEngage’s organisation and sponsors. Since its launch in autumn 2016, WomEngage has arranged its conference in the Second Chamber of the Riksdag building. On the first occasion, in autumn 2016, speakers in front of more than two hundred guests included Minster of Finance Magdalena Andersson and Almi’s Deputy CEO Anna Hallberg. The aim of the conference is to create a meeting place and a forum to discuss aspects of entrepreneurship from a female perspective.
