<p>Large and mid-size private firms in Norway must have boards comprising at least 40 per cent women, Norway's government proposed in a bill on Monday, in a further push to break the glass ceiling preventing women from reaching top positions.</p>.<p>The Nordic country was the first in the world to introduce a 40 per cent gender quota on the boards of listed companies, in 2005, kick-starting an international push to force companies to have more women on boards.</p>.<p>In December, Norway's government proposed an extension of its quota law to apply to large private companies.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/climate-change-sexual-reproductive-health-women-violence-environment-1224974.html" target="_blank">Include sexual and reproductive health services in climate change policies</a></strong></p>.<p>On Monday, it said the proposal would also affect mid-size private firms - those with minimum 30 employees and yearly revenues above 50 million crowns ($4.7 million) when fully implemented in 2028.</p>.<p>"We are the first country in the world to do this," Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre told a news conference.</p>.<p>He said that while the push is based on the government's ambitions to create a fair policy on equality, the primary driver was economical.</p>.<p>"It is about, first and foremost, creating more value, innovation, creativity and using all the resources in our society," Vestre said.</p>.<p>The proportion of women on boards in private Norwegian firms is currently 20 per cent, the government said, up from 15 per cent two decades ago.</p>.<p>"This, we believe, is going too slowly and I am impatient," Vestre said, adding that the government's latest proposal has the backing of the main Norwegian employer lobby, NHO, and the main trade union confederation, LO.</p>.<p>The cabinet rules in a minority in order to pass laws. It is likely this bill could pass with the support of a left-wing party in parliament, the Socialist Left, which supports the government.</p>.<p>The bill, to be presented in the autumn, affects around 20,000 firms.</p>
<p>Large and mid-size private firms in Norway must have boards comprising at least 40 per cent women, Norway's government proposed in a bill on Monday, in a further push to break the glass ceiling preventing women from reaching top positions.</p>.<p>The Nordic country was the first in the world to introduce a 40 per cent gender quota on the boards of listed companies, in 2005, kick-starting an international push to force companies to have more women on boards.</p>.<p>In December, Norway's government proposed an extension of its quota law to apply to large private companies.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/climate-change-sexual-reproductive-health-women-violence-environment-1224974.html" target="_blank">Include sexual and reproductive health services in climate change policies</a></strong></p>.<p>On Monday, it said the proposal would also affect mid-size private firms - those with minimum 30 employees and yearly revenues above 50 million crowns ($4.7 million) when fully implemented in 2028.</p>.<p>"We are the first country in the world to do this," Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre told a news conference.</p>.<p>He said that while the push is based on the government's ambitions to create a fair policy on equality, the primary driver was economical.</p>.<p>"It is about, first and foremost, creating more value, innovation, creativity and using all the resources in our society," Vestre said.</p>.<p>The proportion of women on boards in private Norwegian firms is currently 20 per cent, the government said, up from 15 per cent two decades ago.</p>.<p>"This, we believe, is going too slowly and I am impatient," Vestre said, adding that the government's latest proposal has the backing of the main Norwegian employer lobby, NHO, and the main trade union confederation, LO.</p>.<p>The cabinet rules in a minority in order to pass laws. It is likely this bill could pass with the support of a left-wing party in parliament, the Socialist Left, which supports the government.</p>.<p>The bill, to be presented in the autumn, affects around 20,000 firms.</p>