Employers needed to start looking at employees as fathers and mothers, and also as carers for their dependent relatives, according to commissioner for equality Renee Laiviera.

Speaking at a Times of Malta business breakfast about gender balance in senior management positions, the National Commissioner for the Promotion of Equality insisted that men did not take up family-friendly measures because they did not want to be treated the way their female peers were treated when taking up such opportunities.

I don't like quotas, but do we have another solution- National Commissioner

“I don't like quotas, but do we have another solution,” she asked, insisting that there were enough qualified women to fill up quotas when asked whether being chosen based on your gender was humiliating.

The discussion was launched at the Intercontinental Hotel with a study on Gender Balance in Senior Management Positions, carried out in the run-up to the business breakfast which found that more than 95 per cent of men and 85 per cent of women in such positions have a partner. However, while only half of the women have children, 72 per cent of men are fathers.

The study was the result of collaboration between the Centre for Labour Studies at the University of Malta, the University of Iceland, the Institute for Social Research in Norway and the University of California (San Diego, USA).

KPMG in Malta collaborated with the Centre for Labour Studies in carrying out the survey at the local level.

The study also showed that more than half of the men disagree that the imposition of quotas was an appropriate mechanism to achieve gender balance, while 38 per cent of women disagree and 39 per cent agree.

The business breakfast was organized just as the EU is pushing for at least 40 per cent representation of women in boardrooms by 2020 in a bid to close the gender gap.

Present on the panel, Isabelle Maquet, from the European Commission noted that the main aspect of this proposal was to promote gender balance in decision making.

“Malta has the lowest participation of women in the Labour market, however, it is performing well when it comes to young female workers, who are in general better qualified than young males,” she said, adding that although there was a lot to do, in many aspects Malta was progressing fast.

Commenting on the same proposed directive, director of the University's Centre for Labour Studies Anna Borg said that while it only targeted very large companies – around 10 in Malta - it lacked tough sanctions so it was very easy for companies to do very little or nothing without worrying too much. Monetary sanctions, similar to penalties tied to the birds directive, were essential, she insisted.

Mark Bamber, partner of advisory services with KPMG, also on the panel, was not as hopeful about the 2020 target.

Change took time and a shift from two to 40 per cent in four years was unlikely, considering the speed of change over the past years, he said.

“It is better to encourage social change to happen and support it rather than bring it about through penalties

Although not in favour of shocking the community with draconian penalties, there should be encouraging incentives: “It is better to encourage social change to happen and support it rather than bring it about through penalties,” he said.

The discussion included the lived experienced of women in senior positions who have managed to balance out their working and family life, however, the Head of Go’s Human Resources Ayrton Caruana noted that despite investing in family-friendly measures, such initiatives like reduced hours and working from home, were only taken up by women.

No single man took parental leave or reduced hours and unless female workers had their male partner’s support, it would be very difficult for women to manage a senior role, he insisted.

The discussion got heated at one point when lecturer and former PBS chair Claire Thake Vassallo said obstacles for women, which are part of the social fabric, were coming from women themselves.

If they wanted to make it, women could, she said.

Her comments were rebutted by PN MP Claudette Buttigieg, who warned that not everybody had the financial means for childcare.

“Let's make sure we don't hurt a large section of women who aren't here for this discussion and didn't make it to such positions. What about those women who are crushed because of their state in society and we want to get back on their feet? This is not a women’s problem, but a societal problem.

“If you were to tell men to work from home because of a traffic problem, not because they’re fathers, there would be a take up of such measures, because on the other hand, they perceive that if they take up parental leave they would be seen as weak.”

She noted that the issue was not to have more  women, but rather more diversity at the place of work.

There were areas where more men were needed, such as in social work and teaching, Ms Buttigieg said.

Change will come by time, and there should not be impositions to artificially accelerate the process- MEA

Another speaker from the floor, Malta Employers Association’s Arthur Muscat, meanwhile insisted on meritocracy as a fundamental principal.

He referred to the proposed European directive, noting that the association was in favour of engaging employers to promote gender balance, but totally against imposed gender quotas.

Change will come by time, and there should not be impositions to artificially accelerate the process, he said, joking that soon he would have to start advocating in favour of male quotas.