Training can make a difference to women’s access to promotion and/or better qualified occupations. The first step is often about ensuring that women know about and have access to relevant training courses.

Austria

Trade union: VIDA

Sector: Private health

Training and promotion opportunities are regulated identically for women and men. Cleaning staff could be trained as care assistants if they meet the statutorily defined requirements. All staff (except cleaning personnel) can pursue university courses in health management. Assistance with costs is available. In practice poorly qualified staff are offered training less frequently than more well-qualified staff.

Czech Republic

Trade union: TUHSSC

Sector: Health and Social Services

The Union has not engaged in social dialogue on this issue. However, healthcare workers and workers in social services are legally required to participate in lifelong learning, regardless of position or gender. Inequality exists only in terms of the training costs covered by the employer. Employers tend to prioritize medical positions (regardless of gender) and cover the costs of training doctors. By contrast, the training costs of lower-level positions (nurses etc.) are seldom met by employers. This inequality, then, occurs mainly on account of a member of staff’s position, not gender. Since health care and social services are a predominantly female sector, there are plenty of promotion opportunities for women. Women can often be found in executive positions.

Denmark

Trade union: HK Stat

Sector: National administration

The same for men and women.

Trade union: FOA

Sector: Municipal

“Overall the investigation (performed by the Wages Commission) shows that there are relatively few employees in the public sector who want to become managers in their own place of work, but that there are clear differences between men and women. If asked about the desire for management in another place of work, there is greater support than for the desire for management in ones’ own place of work. Again there are clear differences between how women and men respond.

There is a great difference between the number of management positions within the 13 job areas the investigation focused on. The investigation has therefore highlighted whether the situation, whereby men and women are to a broad extent represented differently in the 13 areas, is of any significance. The investigation shows that the share of managers in female-dominated job areas is much lower than in those areas that have mixed genders or are male-dominated. It is a structural situation that, like everything else, affects whether women become managers or not. The trend that men are more likely to express a desire for management jobs is however strong in the light of the background variables used by the investigation – such as job area. When you take these conditions into account, although less prominent, there is still a clear and significant gender gap.

The investigation shows that part of the gender gap noticed between men and women’s desire for management can be ascribed to the respondents’differing work values. It is therefore of significance to men and women’s different desires for management that on the one hand more men than women focus on full-time employment and the opportunity to have a career, while on the other, more women than men prioritise regular working hours, overtime pay and job security, for example.” (Source: Wages Commission 2010, p.26)

Finland

Trade union: FIPSU

Sector: Public sector

The Ministry of Finance has researched and given recommendations, in 2009 for example, on promoting women’s career development in the state administration. Recommendations were made in the areas of recruiting, education and career development. Particular attention was paid to the need to increase the number of women in upper management. The government agencies’ equality plans include charting and action plans in the above-mentioned areas. 86% of the workplaces in the government sector have an equality plan in place.

France

FNEM-FO

Sector: Energy

No real training specifically for women (except for locally provided training that we would not necessarily know about). At sector level, women took part in slightly more training in 2009 than in 2008 – up from 23% to 24%. But the number of hours training stagnated at 17%, well below their level of representation in the sector (24.6%).

Germany

Trade union: Ver.di

Sector: Public sector

Training and promotion opportunities are another component of gender equality planning in the public sector. Moreover, the section on training in the collective agreement for the public sector (TVöD) contains provisions intended to facilitate women’s access to training (especially for those working part time or returning after a break).

Netherlands

Trade union: Abvakabo

Sector: Public sector

Our collective agreements contain no provisions that certain courses are only for women. If our collective agreement contain provisons about training or courses, then they are sex independent.

Trade union: Nu 91

Sector: Health

Not specifically for women

Norway

Trade union: Fagforbundet

Sector: Municipal

An overall goal of the Federation is to help members improve their skills and receive financial compensation for these skills when they are used by the employer. This applies especially to employees without formal education and employees with a certificate of completed apprenticeship (3-year upper secondary education). Women comprise a large percentage of these groups, so that any action will be to their advantage. There are no negotiations or actions aimed solely at women.

Trade union: NSF – nurses

Sector: Health/Municipal

– No, this has not been a main focus, as this is not a major problem for our members.

Romania

Trade union: Sanitas

Sector: Health

By the educational programs organized by Romanian Trade Union Federation in cooperation with Order of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Assistants in Romania and the Ministry of Health women are trained in the professional field but also for promotion to leadership jobs.

Slovakia

Trade union: Sozzass

Sector: Health

There is no dependance of promotion by graduated trainings Sweden

Trade union: Kommunal

Sector: Municipal blue collar

Within the framework of the negotiations programme Working Rights, Kommunal supports the development of skills competency development for employees within Kommunal’s contractual areas and is working to further develop training opportunities.

UK

Trade union: UNISON

Sector: Public Sector

[2011 update] UNISON works in partnership with employers to provide learning opportunities for workers who may not have been able to take advantage of formal education, through initiatives such as our Lifelong Learning programme This learning partnership programme is open to members and potential members and covers skills for life through to access to higher education. It requires the agreement of employers and is not yet available in every workplace. An example of negotiation for career progression is development of the knowledge and skills framework (KSF) in the National Health Service (NHS), which supports the career progression of employees through education and training. Currently negotiations are underway on an apprenticeship system which would include the progression of Healthcare Assistants, primarily low paid women workers, into nursing and midwifery roles.