Taloussanomat, a financial newspaper, has a story about the overrepresentation of Finn-Swedes on the boards of the 50 largest Finnish companies. Finn-Swedes comprise around 5.5% of the population and 23% of the board membership, making them overrepresented by a factor of about 4.2. The story has this to say about the causes of this situation:
- Finn-Swedes are more oriented towards business
- Finn-Swedes were the main part of the old bourgeoisie
- Finn-Swedes are more oriented towards engineering, finance and law
- Finn-Swedes are more internationally oriented
- Many large companies have ties to Sweden
A while ago they also had a story about the under-representation of women. 25% of board members were women, for an over-representation by men of a factor of 1.5. Taloussanomat was unable to give any background as to why this deplorable situation might exist. Sexism and male insecurity are the only things I can think of. However most respectable politicians, including the previous prime minister, a woman called Mari Kiviniemi, periodically state that if near-parity isn’t achieved soon, legislative measures may have to be taken to force companies to recruit women into board membership.
3% of startups are started by women said a woman:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/23/why-diversity-is-bad-for-startups/
For sure the social networks of Finn-Swedes is much stronger than that of Finns.
http://kansankokonaisuus.blogspot.com/2008/01/suomenrruotsalaiset-osa-5-avointa.html
jukka