Initiative

Zukunft.Frauen; Frauen.Führen; Industry Day for Kids, MIA - Female Migrants Award”; “TechWomen”

Summary of the initiative

The Federation of Austrian Industries (IV) is a voluntary body representing the interests of Austrian industry and currently comprises about 4,200 members. For many years the Federation of Austrian Industries has placed a strong focus on increasing the percentage of women in executive positions as well as on the participation of young women in technically oriented education.

Together with the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and the Federal Ministry of Science and Economy, the Federation of Austrian Industries initiated the initiative “Zukunft.Frauen” (“Future.Women”) in 2010. This campaign aims at promoting women in decision-making positions. (www.zukunft-frauen.at). “Zukunft.Frauen” is a platform offering workshops for women who are, or want to be, in leading positions. In addition, it is a virtual meeting place to connect with like-minded persons. This environment paves the way for expert discussions. Mentoring programmes are known as a great opportunity for personal and career development. Therefore top-class lecturers will be available as mentors. A key target of the campaign is to create a database for women in supervisory boards which will be accessible by the public. This database is meant to support companies in finding highly qualified candidates (www.aufsichtsraetin.at).

Furthermore the Federation of Austrian Industries launched the initiative “Frauen.Führen” (“More Women in Leadership Positions”) in October 2011 in order to convince even more companies of the advantages of mixed teams. Women are still a rare sight in executive positions. Therefore it is a major goal of this initiative to achieve a higher percentage of women in management (www.iv-frauenfuehren.at). The initiative “Frauen.Führen” strives for quantifiable results. To this end, female and male representatives of the industry have publicly consented to gender equality and have increased their commitment to ensure equal opportunities for women and men in their executive positions. They offer support and platforms for networking. The initiative set the following targets:
- Winning more women for near-industry and technical professions,
- Increasing the percentage of women among the executive managers in the industry,
- Increasing the awareness for equality of women and men and for work-family balance: both at the member companies as well as in national and regional politics.

By signing a declaration, 21 Austrian industrial companies have committed to the self-set targets to increase the percentage of women in their businesses and to have more women in executive positions in the long term.

In 2013, the Federation of Austrian Industries  lay emphasis on the education of children in technical and natural sciences. The initiative “Industry Day for Kids” will give children aged 8 to 12 the opportunity to get to know the variety of job profiles in the industrial sector. In interactive workshops they will have the possibility to visit various companies, try several job activities, and meet the CEOs. Some of the workshops are especially designed for girls (www.kindertagderindustrie.at).

The Federation also supports the activities of “Tech Women” an association founded in 2008 for sharing national and international projects to support women in technical professions. The platform provides information and networking options for individual people, companies, communities, and educational institutes.

Another initiative supported by the Federation is the “MiA – Female Migrants Award” for Austrian women with a migration background. In association with several partners, sponsors, and supporting companies, the Federation of Austrian Industries started this project in March 2008 in answer to the growing importance of women and migrants for the Austrian economy and society. With this national award the Federation of Austrian Industries highlights successful examples of integration and contributes to a better understanding of gender equality (www.mia-award.at).