The Port of Gothenburg has been named as one of the top 10 per cent of employers in Sweden who are committed to gender equality in the workplace. This is revealed in a survey for 2020 conducted by the Institute of Human Resource Indicators.

“We’re extremely pleased and proud to receive this accolade. It reflects the time and effort we have devoted to becoming an equal opportunities employer and is proof that we are moving in the right direction,” said Susanne Utbult, Senior HR Manager at the Gothenburg Port Authority.

The Gothenburg Port Authority currently has 150 employees and many of the jobs fall into the “male-dominated” category. In contrast, 41% of managers at the company are female despite the fact that the number of female employees stands at 33%.

“Our goal is to increase the proportion of women at the company and the greatest challenge we are facing at present is to ensure more women are employed within what are regarded as typically male-dominated positions, such as civil engineer, security coordinator, and IT specialist. The difficulty recruiting more female engineers is due largely to the fact that only a small number of women choose to study electric power engineering, mechanical engineering, and civil engineering. We regard this is as a long-term project, and we feel that the introduction of early-stage initiatives, including collaboration with schools to encourage female students to choose engineering programmes, is the right path to follow,” said Susanne Utbult.

The gender equality survey is conducted by the Institute of Human Resource Indicators each year. A series of metrics are compiled at companies and organisations and the results provide a basis for employers who are looking to adopt a more systematic gender equality strategy.