The women It has always been present in rural areas and in the agri-food sector. Although he has done it, traditionally, in the background. It is a situation that little by little has been changing to gain visibility and presence in areas that have been a male preserve for years. However, it is a path that is being taken slowly, at least in Aragon. In the Aragonese community, there is only one woman who runs a cooperative. Specifically, it is Bodegas Aragonesas.
Aragón is thus below the Spanish average in the presence of women on the governing councils or in the presidency of these organizations. According to the latest data from Agri-Food Cooperatives of Spain, there are more than 270,663 members in these societies in which 44,240 women work, representing 46.1% of the workforce. However, there are 1,687 women on the governing councils of the cooperatives. Only 314 run them in Spain.
And what happens? Why are women not present in more management positions in cooperatives despite having the preparation and training? There are several factors that explain this situation. One of them is the “discrimination upon discrimination“. That is, being a woman and living in rural areas, which in itself is a barrier to moving in this direction and making way for the agri-food cooperatives of Aragon, which have a turnover of 1,000 million euros and 2,000 jobs. .
This low participation of women in management positions is also due to them themselves because they do not directly want to occupy that position. “We have to assume that women often slow down their incorporation“Although it would be beneficial for them to have another vision and perspective and also for the cooperatives to have the representation of the people who are part of them,” says Miriam Ferrer, head of the Planning and Equality Unit of the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Food.
This first premise has been further explored in the study carried out on the ‘Barriers and strategies for the participation of women in agri-food cooperatives‘. This report, carried out through a panel with 23 people – 8 men and 15 women – and five focus groups, has detected a series of barriers like the relationalby having less interaction in informal environments by women.
Furthermore, they have been observed sociocultural barriers because traditional roles are maintained. In fact, it is seen that many women, despite being legal owners of their farms, continue to delegate participation in meetings to their partners and, consequently, decision-making. “It is a habit that they cling to because they do not want to be the first to leave this role,” says Isabel Ortega, professor of Psychology and Sociology at the University of Zaragoza and author of this report.
Women in turn face the conciliation due to domestic overload and lack of care services in rural environments. Neither regulations are favorable to it, since weak measures are taken and a lack of absence of gender quotas.
To all this, add the structural barriers due to inequality in land ownership and access to credit and personal type due to fear of criticism or imposter syndrome.
More women in cooperatives: what can be done?
The study carried out has also specified a series of measures to encourage women so that they have a greater presence in the governing councils and in the management or presidency of agri-food cooperatives. Among them, the importance of educate in equality from an early age, integrating it transversally in all areas and productive levels, and giving visibility to those who already exist so that there is referents.
Other actions go through spread the cooperative spirit in order to promote this culture through conferences and marketing strategies that disseminate the benefits, operation and structure of cooperatives.
Likewise, it is proposed identify active women in order to promote them and encourage their participation and incorporation in cooperative societies. The focus is placed at the same time on the networking networks female, which are less effective than male.
The mentoring and coaching They in turn make up the package of measures to support the integration of women in agricultural and livestock activities and, consequently, in cooperatives, as well as the implementation of infrastructure and care services that facilitate conciliation work and family. And this also involves establishing compatible schedules, for example for meetings in cooperatives, in addition to adopting hybrid formats in assemblies, meetings or meetings. Precisely, for the latter, it is also necessary to guarantee the connectivity in rural areas. Another action is business management trainingdecision making and cooperative leadership.
On the possibility of establishing gender quotasthe results of the study, based on two questionnaires – one on barriers and the other on measures to overcome obstacles -, the vision changes. 60% consider that the presence of women in the management bodies of the cooperative should be proportional to their participation at the base, while 25% advocate absolute parity. 15% do not want quotas, although they do consider that female presence must be encouraged.
They are barriers and possible measures that make up a work tool to act from different focus groups and programs to promote women in rural areas.
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