Norway’s government minister in charge of culture and equality, Abid Raja, said he hopes the Oslo-based men’s club Norske Selskab will “wake up” and open up for female members. He called their current “men only” membership “incredibly old-fashioned.” Raja told state broadcaster NRK that Norske Selskab, which has around 1,200 members who mostly are affluent […]
Women light a fire under men’s club
September 7, 2020
One of the last old-fashioned “gentlemen’s clubs” in Norway came under more pressure to join the 21st century on Monday. After years of debate around the all-male Norske Selskab’s refusal to admit women, nearly 30 female opponents of the ban published harsh criticism in leading business newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN), and within hours another frustrated leader […]
Men think women have won equality
March 8, 2019
Two-thirds of all men questioned in a new survey believe women are equal to men in Norway. Only a quarter of women questioned believe that’s true, however, as the debate over gender equality rolls on. The survey, conducted by research firm Respons Analyse for state broadcaster NRK, was released to coincide with Friday’s March 8th […]
Svendsen mulls ‘exciting’ offers
September 21, 2018
Berit Svendsen, the highly rated executive who felt compelled to leave Telenor earlier this month, says she’s had “incredibly many nice messages and exciting offers” since her headline-grabbing resignation. Management experts think the company has suffered because of it. “Seen from the outside, it seems like a lot of energy is used on internal positioning […]
Government scolds Telenor’s CEO
September 4, 2018
“I had expected more of Telenor,” exclaimed Linda Hofstad Helleland after the state-controlled company failed to retain its most senior female executive who has consistently delivered strong financial results. Helleland is Norway’s government minister in charge of equality matters, and she’s upset over the fate of Telenor’s Berit Svendsen. “This can’t continue,” Helleland told Norwegian […]
Women still struggle in Norway, too
March 8, 2018
Norway is widely viewed as a haven of gender equality, but local media took due note on Thursday, International Women’s Day, of all the inequality that remains. “The ‘good old boy’s club’ is still thriving,” claimed one 50-year-old lawyer who thinks she’s better off working in the public sector than the private. New statistics from […]
Pay gap persists between men and women
December 6, 2017
Women in Norway continue to earn just 86 percent of what men in Norway take home in terms of average monthly earnings. The latest figures from 2016, compiled by statistics bureau SSB, indicate that the pay gap has narrowed, however, and pay growth for women has been a bit higher than for men since 2000. […]
Norwegian Air ‘preferred blondes’
September 5, 2017
Norwegian Air, home-based in a country that prides itself on equality, has raised a new flap over the casting call for a new commercial shot in Los Angeles last spring. The casting company for Norwegian plainly stated that it was seeking “20-something tourist girls, preferably blond” along with a “20-27 year old quintessential Scandinavian woman.” Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported […]
Saudi envoy scolds critics in Norway
April 26, 2017
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Norway has fired off a response to criticism from members of the Norwegian Parliament Wednesday over the status of Saudi women. In a written commentary sent to Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK), Ambassador Esam A. Abid Althaqafi stated that it was “especially necessary that we correct the misleading description of the situation for […]
Norwegians angered by Saudis’ UN post
April 26, 2017
UPDATED: Several members of the Norwegian Parliament are among those angered by a secret UN vote last week that gave Saudi Arabia, where women aren’t even allowed to drive cars, a seat on a UN commission meant to promote women’s rights. They want to know how Norway voted on the issue, but Foreign Minister Børge Brende has […]
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