Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/949290
maltatoday SUNDAY 4 MARCH 2018 News 3 MALTA STOCK EXCHANGE listed companies Company Men Women M % W % BOV 10 1 91.0% 9.0% HSBC 6 1 85.7% 14.3% Lombard 5 0 100.0% 0.0% Middlesea 9 1 90.0% 10.0% GO 10 0 100.0% 0.0% Farsons 6 3 66.7% 33.3% International Hotel Investments 13 0 100.0% 0.0% Plaza Shopping Centre 7 0 100.0% 0.0% FIMBank 11 0 100.0% 0.0% Malta International Airport 6 1 85.7% 14.3% Santumas Shareholdings 6 0 100.0% 0.0% Medserv 5 1 83.3% 16.7% C&N Marinas 6 0 100.0% 0.0% MaltaPost 6 0 100.0% 0.0% RS2 Software 8 0 100.0% 0.0% MIDI 9 0 100.0% 0.0% Malta Investments 5 0 100.0% 0.0% Tigne Mall 2 3 40.0% 60% Pefaco International 5 0 100.0% 0.0% Malta Properties Company 6 0 100.0% 0.0% PG group 5 2 71.4% 28.6% Trident Estates 8 0 100.0% 0.0% AVERAGE 91.5% 8.5% Government companies and authorities Enemalta 5 1 83.3% 16.6% Air Malta 6 3 66.6% 33.3% Central Bank 5 2 71.4% 28.6% WasteServ 4 3 57.1% 42.9% PBS Editorial Board 3 0 100% 0.0% Gozo Channel (Operations) 6 4 60% 40% PBS directors 6 2 75% 25.0% Transport Malta 7 4 63.6% 36.3% AVERAGE 91.5% 8.5% Women remain under-represented on decision-making boards TIA RELJIC DESPITE signs of improvement in the EU's gender equality index, Maltese women are still in a very small minority on the boards of directors of both public and private entities. Around this time last year – just ahead of Women's Day – equality minister Helena Dalli praised the Prime Minister's proposal to introduce a gender quota system for MPs. "Whenever the topic of gender quotas is brought up in Malta, it always stirs a lot of de- bate," she said. "However, Muscat knew that if we don't have action, then a lot of time will have to pass before we have a Parliament that is truly representative of our society." But while the percentage of female MPs has risen from 8.7% in 2011 to 14.5% last year, Malta's numbers remain abysmally low, par- ticularly when compared to the EU average. Indeed, the current administration is yet to deliver on its promise to be the "most femi- nist government," as measures have done lit- tle to improve gender representation on gov- ernment boards. Gender quotas around Europe have not been implemented long enough for the re- sults to be weighed. But political represen- tation aside, from information compiled by MaltaToday, it appears that only about 32.4% of members of public boards are women. These are government entities where chair- persons and board members are hand-picked by government ministers. This number is inflated by a small selection of female-dominated boards, which are ex- actly the type one would expect: the adoption appeals board, the coordinating board for cultural projects, and the social work profes- sion board. Curiously, the prison leave board is also made up entirely of two female mem- bers. On the other hand, the board of directors of Enemalta, the national energy company, is comprised of 85.7% men and 14.3% women, while national airline Air Malta has a board made up of 30% women. Only 25% of members on the Public Broadcasting Services directors board are women, and the number of women on the editorial board is nil. The private sector is faring significantly worse. The only company listed on the Stock Ex- change with a female majority board of di- rectors is Tigné Mall, the company that runs the retail complex at Tigné Point. But Tigné Point's nine board directors are all men. In fact the number of women on the boards of directors of listed companies are staggering- ly low, accounting for only 8.5%. The majority of the companies – which include Lombard Bank, MaltaPost, Midi, Malta Investments, and GO – have a board of directors made up entirely of men. In the EU Gender Equality Index 2017, Malta scored the most significant progress out of all participating countries with a point increase of 17.5, in the main down to women's access to economic independence and the increase in female labour participation. But while the majority of EU member states improved their scores in the domain of pow- er, Malta actually regressed by 0.4 points in gender equality in decision-making positions across political, economic, and social spheres in the same report. And despite females accounting for 60% of University of Malta graduates and a signifi- cant increase of women in the labour market, the meagre number of women in positions of power does not reflect the increase of women in the workforce. tia.reljic@mediatoday.com.mt MARIA PACE HIT the edit button: a new bat- tlefront has opened in the war against gender bias. For according to the Wikimedia Foundation's survey of users on Wikipedia, the online encyclope- dia curated by its users, less than 10% of its contributors were fe- male – and even less when talking about Maltese women contribu- tors. But Maltese gallery Blitz is tak- ing up arms. On 9 March it partic- ipates in the Art+Feminism pro- ject, a New York initiative that has been running for five years now. The project's main event is an editing workshop – Edit-a-thon – that takes place over two days and brings people together to learn how to edit Wikipedia to create new articles and improve existing content on women and the arts. The global event coincides with International Women's Day. "Art+Feminism's Edit-a-thons aim to reduce this gender bias," Blitz programme director Nicole Bearman told MaltaToday. "Since 2014, over 280 Edit-a-thons have taken place across the world, cre- ating and improving an estimated 4,600 articles." Bearman said that in Malta, female artists have always been under-represented across the arts and culture scenes. "The problem is that while women are very active in the arts scene in Malta, they aren't always very visible. We want to create Wikipedia pages for them and get their names and work out there... The lack of online female par- ticipation has led to an alarming dearth of content about women and art in the world's most popu- lar online research tool." Bearman said edit-a-thons and such initiatives make an impact on the gender gap through crucial improvements to art and femi- nist-related subjects on Wikipe- dia. "Contributing to the event is in itself an empowering experi- ence, that of becoming 'Wikipe- dians'." The day's activities will be led by a committee of experts and en- thusiasts from across the cultural and education sectors, as well as highly experienced Wikipedians. Gender bias: taking the fight to Wikipedia