The share of women in managerial positions in production in Croatia has been increasing over the past few years, but in general it is still low compared to other EU member states. In order to encourage such a share, every company should introduce an appropriate strategy to promote women, which would lead to an increase in their representation at the highest levels of management. The inclusion of women at the highest levels brings economic advantages to companies in the form of improved operations and better decision-making. In addition to implementing internal strategies to promote women within individual companies, the state and organizations should also actively implement measures to achieve gender equality and to ensure equal advancement opportunities for everyone, regardless of gender.
As part of the implementation of the EU project “Greenfield investment in the production of implants”, and for the purpose of promoting female entrepreneurship but also promoting the work of women in management positions in production in general, the director and also a member of the project team, Mateja Nedoklan, was interviewed:
1. Does MDC Investicije promote gender equality?
I can certainly confirm that the company MDC Investicije takes care and promotes gender equality. Although currently about 80% of the total number of employees are female, all our employees agree that they do not feel any discrimination in relation to other colleagues and that the equality of women and men is absolutely unquestionable.
2. When hiring new employees, is equal representation of the sexes taken into account?
We at the company MDC Investicije often point out that the employees of the center are our greatest value, so that certainly when hiring new people, all interested persons are given the same opportunity for employment as well as subsequent growth and development within our team.
3. Do you think that advancement within the collective depends on gender?
I don’t think that advancement within the collective depends on gender, but solely on the individual person’s will and desire for advancement, which is certainly not exclusively related to gender, but to the motivation, determination and ambition of the person, that is, to those qualities that the individual develops regardless of his gender.
4. Have you ever encountered any kind of stereotypes related to working in a management position because you are a woman?
I have been representing MDC Investments as a director for 10 years, and I can confirm that I have encountered some type of stereotype several times, but lately, since it has been talked about more in the public, I have the impression that the perception is changing and that the situation much better than before. We at the company MDC Investicije can boast that the situation with the number of employed women is very good, and we will definitely try to keep it that way in the future.
5. What is your opinion about female entrepreneurship in the Republic of Croatia and do you think there is room for improvement?
I believe that in Croatia, women and entrepreneurship are still two slightly opposing terms, the mention of which many have slightly negative associations in the form of failure, frivolous business, business exclusively for women, etc. All these negative associations have led to a wrong perception of women themselves and their fear from starting a business, running it and feeling less valuable. In Croatia, there is certainly room for improvement when it comes to female entrepreneurship, since we have a high level of education among women, an increased interest of women in entrepreneurship, but also a growing number of female entrepreneurs in the last few years, with a growing gap between men and women in entrepreneurial activity. Areas for improvement relate to the intensification of systematic support for women entrepreneurs, the European Union’s focus on encouraging the development of women’s entrepreneurship potential, the strengthening of associations related to women’s entrepreneurship, and the support of the public and private sector and the media for women’s entrepreneurship.
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