Equality – a prerequisite for a sustainable development

Countless reports and surveys show that diverse teams contribute to successful business and social sustainability. Companies with greater equality among board members and management teams tend to be more profitable. Likewise, it is shown that companies with diverse teams often perform better.

Counteracting gender inequality, bias and discrimination enables leaders to create inclusive work environments. As a result, companies become more attractive to potential employees. Further benefits include higher innovation capacity, improved workforce efficiency, a more democratic organisation and increased social capital. All of which has been shown to have a positive effect on efficiency, profitability and the social resilience.

The private sector is a vital catalyst in driving an economic, environmental and socially sustainable transition in society. Due to this, we are presenting statistics regarding equality in management teams, and the distribution of venture capital from the private life science sector in Uppsala. The statistics show relatively even distribution between women and men, which decreases at the level of upper management teams.

The 2021 gender distribution for students in life science programs at Uppsala University and SLU reflects the general trend, i.e., the proportion of women is higher. This means hiring for more diverse upper management teams is possible – if companies acknowledge the potential.

Collaboration between the innovation support system, academia and industry gives us excellent opportunities for closing the gender gap and creating a more inclusive life science community in Uppsala.