-Is woman into a disadvantaged situation?
-Yes, especially in the labour field. Woman suffers an inferiority of conditions compared to man. When women look for a job, they find many more obstacles. At the moment, the unemployment level for women is twice the men’s one, even if women reveal a better academic education. Women workers have worse contracts. Temporary level for women is much higher, as well as the contracts’ precariety level. It flows in problems such as the difficulty to get social benefits, (for example the unemployment benefit) and, sometimes, it could even carry women to poverty. This is the origin of the idea that poverty is feminine. This kind of situation may seem to be exaggerated but it often happens to old age women or in single-parent’s households. Other luckier women don’t have to face the problem of temporary employment and they work in companies with solid contracts. But, even in this case, we have difference of opportunities. Nowadays women still earn a 30% less then men. This difference has important repercussion in the level and the way of life. For example, Hollywood actresses earn less then actors: the higher remuneration for an actress is lower than for an actor.
-It seems we’re describing the situation we had years ago..-Yes, the truth is that we have reached many goals, but social change goes on very slowly. It’s interesting to see how businesswomen must overcome many barriers to obtain top-level positions. That’s what people know as “glass ceiling”. This obstacle is not immediately apparent, but there is: just have a look to executive women’s percentages in Spain (4%) and you can easily see we’re very far from the minimum that EU Commission recommends to achieve for gender equality (40%). You can image how remote this equality still is.
-What about reconciliation issues for businesswomen? -Woman is traditionally responsible for the housework that feature “private life”; even if she has a “public” job, she keeps on taking charge of this kind of tasks, and it has effects at both work and psychological level. According to the Spanish Businesswomen Federation, in 2005, more than 40% of women had to leave their job because

of the impossibility to conciliate work and personal and family needs. When we talk about women who leave their job, we mean a free decision of these women, even if there is a basic injustice since nowadays it’s impossible for women to conciliate without men’s help. Women actively participate in “labour world” but most of men do not participate in housework at all. This is the reason why a lot of women are forced to choose between work and family life. “Freedom” is an illusion.
-How can this problem be solved?
-These responsibilities shouldn’t be for women only. They should be shared with men and with the whole society, too. The latter should provide measures and mechanisms to make this freedom real. Today it works out expensive for a woman to conciliate work and family life.
-Other problems businesswomen must face?
-Their enemies are above all social stereotypes: for example, people who think women are not prepared enough to access to upper management. This is one of the still existing stereotypes during the employees’ selection. It often happens that, on equal terms, man is preferred.
-How can we change this situation?
-We should work hard at many levels. We should promote a social change, a mind change, a deeper sensitiveness at social level to obtain throughout campaigns, projects,..
This is to be carried out by Administrations and Public Institutions. But we can’t forget the role fathers must play: children education can’t be delegate to schools and administrations.
On the other hand we should promote an “organization change”:  we should have a work schedule in harmony with daily life. We should go towards the “European time schedule”: it doesn’t mean you work less hours, but just that you start before, you finish before and you have a little less time for lunch. It is demonstrated that you don’t work more just because you finish at 9 p.m., but the opposite! This work schedule change would also involve, for example, the whole “leisure sector” and schools.
-What can companies do?
-They should develop equality actions in order to guarantee

According to Mrs. Sara Berbel, it’s more difficult for women entrepreneurs to access to financing. Proofs were made with the same project presented by a man and a woman: the bank attitude was absolutely different. It’s difficult to carry out a project in a traditionally masculine sector. Women entrepreneurs have different features. Merilyn London, American researcher, analyzed women’s working behaviours and she found that women leadership is more focused on people, on promoting team work and less hierarchical organizations. But there are also researches demonstrating the non-existence of these differences. The truth is that women entrepreneurs are few and they had to adapt themselves to the existing organization systems with courageous efforts. Some of them “study” the sports articles on newspapers to have a talking point with the colleagues they work with. What would happen if a man had to adapt himself to a totally feminine environment? We can only image this, since it has not happened yet.

women and men an equal access to charges and opportunities without discriminations and to promote effective work flexibility. It would make reconciliation of work and family life simpler.
-Which are the differences between a businesswoman and an employee woman? 
-There is a social class difference, first. But both, as women, are exposed to the same problems: the difference is that a businesswoman has a wider array of available resources to conciliate. But problems are the same.
-And what about Spain and reconciliation issues?
-Even if many problems still exist, the situation is not so bad, since we must consider women have been going through these for centuries and years ago the conditions were undoubtedly worse. We have made important progress. 2006, for example, is the 75� anniversary of the first feminine vote, and 75 years are nothing in comparison with the entire human history. I am optimistic for the future since we can see the undertaking on the part of Administration bodies to support gender quality in the labour field. Generalitat (Government of Catalonia) offers training courses for women (as “Yo directiva” which has the specific aim to break the “glass ceiling”), sponsorship to projects carried out by women and support to equality actions into private companies. Nevertheless, I think that the key is to create a women network to work together in the same direction.
-How can this network be created?
-Throughout portals, for example. Institut de les Dones is creating a portal in order to encourage relations between businesswomen who work with the same aims. We would like to promote associationism to achieve shared objectives.
-What do you foresee, looking at the future?
-I foresee a labour market with an increasing participation of women. A labour market in which they are more and more taken into consideration and in which their professional qualities and worth are acknowledged and appreciated. They should not adapt themselves to formats and formulas created by and for men. I think that the new generation is stronger and aware of its possibilities, in particular in Catalonia, where there is the highest level of female entrepreneurship.

LOURDES ACEDO