Women's Economic Empowerment in Poland and in the World

Ewa Masłyk-Musiał

Women’s Economic Empowerment

in Poland and in the World

Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sectio H, Oeconomia 29-30, 39-49

A N N A L E S U N I V E R S I T A T I S M A R I A E C U R I E - S K Ł O D O W S K A L U B L I N — P O L O N I A VOL. X X 1X /X X X , 3 SECTIO H 1995/1996 Z a k ł a d P s y c h o s p o ł c z n y c h P r o b l e m ó w Z a r z ą d z a n i a W y d z i a łu E k o n o m i c z n e g o U M C S E w a M A S Ł Y K - M U S I A Ł

Polish W omen’s Economic Empowerment in Poland and in the World *

Udział kobiet w rozwoju ekonom icznym w Polsce i na św iecie

ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK AND PRIVATIZATION FIGURES

In 1989, prof. Leszek B alcerow icz 1, d e p u ty p rem ier and finance m in ­ iste r, opened a new e ra in P o la n d ’s econom y. He launched a cam paign ag a in st rag in g in flation and m ade Polish cu rre n c y in te rn a lly ex chan g e­ able. P oland began to rise fom its econom ic slum p. E veryone w as given th e chance to open his own business, exange m oney. Goods and s e r ­

vices have g ra d u a lly becom e m ore available. Poles have show n stoical d e te rm in a tio n to get th ro u g h fallin g sta n d a rd s of living and u n em p lo y ­ m en t in o rd e r to rea c h stab ilizatio n and steady econom ic grow th. L ast y e a r th e n a tio n a l b u d g et deficit w as red u ced and th e fo u r p e rc e n t eco ­ nom ic gro w th noted in Poland set a E u ropean record. A five p ercen t a n n u a l increase in G D P and a 3.5 p e rc e n t increase in consum ption is plan n ed d u rin g th e n e x t th re e y e a rs by F inance M inister G rzegorz K o- lodko in his v e ry am bitious ’’S tra te g y for P o la n d ” program m e approved

* The A uthor is professor at the Economy Department of the Maria Curie- -Sklodow ska U niversity (UMCS) in Lublin, Poland. All the quotations are from in terview s w ith ladies participating in the study entitled: ’’B usinessw om en in Poland and in the U SA ”. Decem ber 1993. International project was designed in D ePaul U niversity, Chicago by: Miriam Ben-Y oseph, Lisa Gundry and the author of this article.

1 B alcerow icz L. has pointed out at least seven basic ingredients of develop ­ ment and rapid, steady econom ic expansion. These are: a strong, stable and con­ vertible currency, and efficien t system of financial institutions; a clear dom inance of the private sector in the econom y; econom ic liberty and com petition; labor re­ lations which favor long-term growth, a relatively low tax level in the economy •as w ell as political stability.

40 Ewa M asłyk-M usiał

of by p a rliam e n t in Ju n e . T he g o vern m ent hopes th a t in v estm e n ts and e x p o rts w ould stim u la te g ro w th . To encourage in v estm en ts, th e g o v e rn ­ m en t will — am ong o th e r m easu res — offer ta x reliefs an d try to m ain ­ tain a positive in te re st rate . The m ost difficu lt pro blem will be th at of red ucing inflation. T he g o v e rn m e n t plans to b ring it down from this y e a r’s 24 p ercen t to about 9 p e rc e n t in 1997. It should decrease faste r than the un em p lo y m en t rate.

S trateg ic figures for th e Polish econom y are p rese n ted below in Table 1.

Tab. 1. Strategie figures for Poland Liczby strategiczne dla Polski

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1997 (1993 = 100) GDP 104.0 104.5 105.0 105.2 105.5 121.8 (previous y ea r=100, constant prices) A verage wage 101.1 101.5 102.8 103.0 103.1 110.8 (previous year = 100, constant prices) Consumption 105.6 103.1 106.0 107.0 103.6 114.3 (previous year = 100, constant prices) Investm ents 104.5 106.0 103.1 103.3 108.0 132.4 (previous y ea r=100, constant prices) Inflation 37.6 23.6 16.1 12.0 8.7 47.7 (December/December) Budget deficit (in relation to GDP) 2.8 3.7 3.3 2.8 2.5 U nem ployem ent 15.7 17.2 16.7 15.6 14.0

Source: The Strategy for Poland, June 1994.

The dom inance of th e p riv a te sector in th e econom y w as singled out as th e m ain in g red ien t of econom ic develo pm ent by m an y Polish econo­ m ists. In the fifth y e a r of P olish reform s, th e p riv a te com panies an d p a rtn e rsh ip s continue to rise rapidly. T otal fim s ow ned w holly by P olish n atio nals in creased by 8.239, or 14.2%, and firm s w ith foreign capital by 4.922, or 48.6%. M ost of the dom estically ow ned businesses w ere those involved in tra d e (34.8 percent), follow ed by m a n u fa ctu rin g (19.4 p ercent) and co n stru ctio n (18.7 percent) com panies. L a st y e a r th e fastest gro w th of th e n u m b e r of Polish owned p riv a te businesses was o b ­ served am ong those involved in a g ric u ltu re and in d u stria l goods p ro d u c­ tion

The n u m b er of in d iv id ual p ro p rieto rsh ip s increased by 153.000, th a t is by 9.4 p ercen t, the ra te of increase in new e n tries in tra d e and services exceeded 13 percent. D espite th is grow th in th e n u m b er of business firm s

Tab. 2. N um ber of individual private firm s by branch and em ploym ent Liczba firm pryw atnych w edług branży i zatrudnienia

W omen’s Economic Empowerment... 41

Periods

Total Industry Construction Trade Services and Others numb. em pl. numb. empl. numb. empl. numb. empl. numb. empl. 1992/XII 1993/XII a 1420.0 1783.9 105.6 2591.1 3220.7 103.7 348. 345.2 101.4 835.2 10 4.4 105.4 171.7 195.9 102.5 399.0 534.5 103.3 550.3 708.6 107. 871.5 1117.9 103,7 349.1 485.4 534.2 483.9 107.6 100.5 a — previous period — 100

th e em p lo y m en t th e re d ecreased by ab o u t 150,000 people. It w as m ost s u b sta n tia l in services, p a rtic u la ry in caterin g and n o -m a teria l services (c. 200.000). W hile to tal em p lo y m en t declined in in div idu al p ro p rie to r­ ships, it increased in firm s involved in m an u fa ctu rin g .

In 1993 th e re la tiv e ly larg e increase in th e n u m b e r of p riv ate firm s w as acom panied by g ro w th of em p lo y m en t in th is se cto r am o u n itin g to 206,000 persons. S im u lta n e o u sly it fell by 463,000 in th e public sector. All in all, it fell by 7.1 p e rc e n t in th e public sector.

Since 1992 th e p riv a te se c to r’s sh a re in em p lo y m e n t has been larg e r th a n th a t of th e p ublic sector. A f u rth e r in crease w as noted in 1993 r. In a g ric u ltu re alm o st 3.7 m illion of its to tal labor force of som e 4 m illion are em ployed in th e p riv a te sector. P riv a te com p anies and p a rtn e rsh ip s outside th e a g ric u ltu re secto r have been em ploying 2.8 m illion persons, and th e n u m b er of in d iv idu al p ro p rie to rsh ip s rea c h e d 2.6 m illion. E m ­ ploym ent in th e public secto r to talled 6.3 m illion. T hu s in 1993 the p ri­ vate sector in P o lan d accounted for 59 p e rc e n t of em plo ym ent an d the public secto r fo r 41 p ercen t. If account is ta k e n of th e existen ce of an extensive black econom ic sp h ere (its size is e stim a te d a t 15— 25 percen t) it w ould a p p e ar th a t some tw o -th ird s of th e Polish population is e ffe c ti­ vely em ployed outside th e public sector.

In 1993 in d u stria l o u tp u t rose by over 7 p ercen t. T he p riv a te sector recorded an increase of 38.6 p e rc e n t in v alue te rm s, w hile the public sector reg iste red a decrease of 5.9 percen t. As a re su lt fu rth e r g row th of th e p riv a te se c to r’s sh a re in in d u stria l o u tp u t w as noted: it increased from 31 p e rc e n t in 1992 to over 35 p e rc e n t in 1993. T he p riv a te se cto r’s sh are in con stru ctio n g rew in th e sam e period fro m 78 to alm ost 85 p e r­ cent and in tra n s p o rta tio n from 39 p e rc e n t to o v er 45 percent.

H ow ever, th e p ro fita b ility ra te of sta te -o w n ed e n te rp ris e s w as h ig her th a n th a t of p riv a te firm s. O p eratin g p ro fit from sales in state-o w ned en te rp rises am o u n ted to 4.5 p erc e n t and only to 1.8% in th e p riv a te sector. Though th e p ro fita b ility ra te of state-o w n ed e n te rp ris e s w as h ig h er than th a t of p riv a te com panies th e ir n e t p ro fits fro m sales w ere low er. This

42 Ewa M aslyk-M usial

w as larg ely due to a low er ta x b u rd en in the private sector and its sm aller deb t liabilities. P riv a te firm s p erfo rm ed worse th an th e public sector e n te rp rise s despite a 2— 3 tim es sm aller direct and in d irect tax burden.

The expansion of th e p riv a te sector and the process of p riv atizatio n .2 have not y e t been reflected in an im provem ent of econom ic efficiency as m easu red by fin an cial p erfo rm an ce or an increase in b ud get revenues. T his has m uch to do w ith th e ten d en cy to u n d e rre p o rt op eratin g pro fits and o v e rre p o rt costs and to d e fla te wage bills so as to low er th e liab ility for social secu rity co n trib u tio n s w hich are high in Poland.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY OF WOMEN IN POLAND

It follows from sta tistic a l d a ta th a t a consistent increase in w om en’s em p lo y m en t was typical of alm o st th e w hole post-w ar period of P o la n d ’s econom ic developm ent. The only exception w ere th e 1980s, w hen a c e r­ tain decrease in w om en’s professional activ ity w as observed, especially am ong th e youn g est and oldest age groups. The beginning of th e 1990s n oted a decrease in th e n u m b e r of w orking women m ostly due to the g ro w th of u n e m p lo y m e n t3 resu ltin g from the tra n sfo rm atio n and r e ­ s tru c tu rin g of th e econom y. In 1993 wom en accounted for 46.2 p e rc e n t of th e to ta l w ork force, w hile th e ra te of w om en’s professional a c tiv ity am o u n ted to 53.1 p ercen t an d em plo y m ent ra te to 44.9 p ercent.

The highest ra te s of p articip atio n in the lab ou r force are am ong w om en aged: 35— 39 y e a rs (71%), 40— 44 years (75%) and 45— 49 y e a rs (72%). The h ig h er th e educatio n level of women, th e h ig h er th e p a rtic i­ pation rates: 76% for w om en w ith a u n iversity degree and 27 p e rc e n t for w om en w ith e le m en ta ry school education. Statistical d ata have show n th a t w om en em ployees d om in ate in such fields as h e a lth care and social services (80%), education (74%), hotels and re s ta u ra n ts (70%), financial services (58%) an d tra d e (57%).

In 1993 w om en c o n stitu ted 44 p ercent of the total n u m b e r of those

* Launched three and a half years ago, the privatization process has now encom passed 4,035 state-ow n ed enterprises. That is 46 percent of the total num ber of owned companies operating on 30 June 1990. Of these 522 enterprises have been traasform ed into state-treasu ry-ow ned companies and in 202 cases the equity share capital has been paid into the N ational Investm ent Funds (NIF). Poland. Interna­ tional Economic Report 1993/94. World Research Intitute.

3 As a result of changes in the Polish economic system , 1,008,400 unem ployed w om en w ere registered in 1993, that is 27.5% of the total num ber of those u nem ­ ployed. There are 37 wom en for one job offer and only 10 unem ployed men for one job offer. Felicja Borzykowska, ’’Ways of Transformation of Polish Women from the Position of a Fireside’s V estal into Fully Equal Partnership”, May 1994, W arsaw.

W om en’s Economic Em powerment... 43

em ployed in th e p riv a te sector. It should be n o ted th a t these w ere m ainly u ned ucated w om en, w orking in ag ric u ltu re . Of a ll w orking w om en, those w orking on th e ir own co n stitu ted 22 p e rc e n t a n d of these tw o p ercen t w ere em p lo y e rs.4 A ccording to th e ’’M ag ister” sta tistic a l sy stem covering in d iv id u als w ith a u n iv e rsity degree, th e sh a re of w om en em ployed in m an ag erial posts am o u n ted to 28.5 percen t. O nly 17.7 p e rc e n t of all g r a ­ d u ate w om en occupied m anaging posts. W hile th e re h as been a g en eral ten d ency of decline in th e overall n u m b er of w orking wom en an in ­ crease in th e n u m b er of w om en s ta rtin g th e ir own business has been observed. The n u m b e r of such wom en has increased from 298,500 in 1989 to 566,500 in 1991. M ore im p o rta n tly , th e p a rticip a tio n of businessw om en in th e to ta l n u m b e r of w orking w om en has increased (from 3.7 p erc e n t in 1989 to 7.5 p e rc e n t in 1991). The ten d e n c y of g ro w th has also been reflected in th e p articip a tio n of businessw om en in th e to ta l n u m b e r of e n tre p re n e u rs (an increase from 27% in 1989 to 33% in 1991), and th a t increase in th e n u m b er of businessw om en w as m o re dynam ic th a n in the n u m b er of m e n -e n tre p re n e u rs.

F ig ures in T able 3 show th a t w om en p re fe r engaging them selves as

Tab. 3. Em ploym ent structure broken down into em ploym ent status and national econom y sectors

Struktura zatrudnienia w ed łu g statusu zatrudnienia i krajowych sektorów gospodarki

% of em ployees falling into given category

Employers and the self-em p loyed Free of charge Total Em ployers included

contributing fam ily members wiomen men w om en /men wom en men

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total broken 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 down as follow s: industry 4.3 6.7 17.0 22.7 1.5 1.6 construction 0.5 60.1 3.4 20.6 0.2 2.3 agriculture 75.0 8.8 26.5 16.5 92.2 90.7 transport trade 15.5 4.0 0.7 2.5 0.2 0.5 education and 0.3 13.4 45.6 26.8 4.3 4.0 upbringing 0.3 0.1 0.7 0.3 health service

and social w elfare 0.4 0.1 1.4 0.4 . .. Source of data: Business A ctivity Research, Head S tatistical O ffice — May 1993, Tables 2, 4, pp. 30—31.

4 In Czechoslovakia, figures from 1991 show that out of the total fem ale force, w omen held only 10% of positions in top m anagem ent, 25% at the m edium level and 65% at the low er level of managem ent, J. Stastna, Czechoslovak W omen Y esterday, Today and Tomorrow, The European U niversity Institute, Florence *1993.

44 Ewa M asłyk-M usiał

co n trib u tin g fam ily m em bers. The n u m b er of self-em ployed w om en is grow ing. The highest n u m b e r of ru n n in g th eir own business has been in com m erce (ap p ro x im ately 46%) and in in d u stry (17%). Less m om en do in construction (3.4%) and tra n s p o rt (0.7%).

WOMEN IN THE ROLE OF BUSINESS-OWNERS

Very little research w o rk has been done so fa r on wom en e n tre p re ­ n e u rs — ow ners of com panies in Poland. In 1993 In stitu te for P riv a te E n terp rise and D em ocracy lau n ch ed a rese a rc h p rogram m e encom passing a group of 100 w om en-ow ners (co-owners) of com panies situ a te d in the areas of Łódź, G dańsk an d W arsaw (big in d u stria l cities) and in 1993/94 th e School for New L earn in g in Chicago in cooperation w ith th e Eco­ nom y D ep artm en t of UMCS (The M aria C urie-Skłodow ska U niversity ) in L ublin s ta rte d a co m p arativ e rese a rc h p ro je c t on w om en-ow ners (co- -ow ners) in Chicago and W arsaw . The dem ographic pictu res of bu sin ess­ wom en th a t em erged in both rese a rc h p rojects ap peared to be sim ilar. In both th e prevailing g roup of those in terview ed fell w ithin the 40— 49 y e a rs of age category, follow ed by th a t of wom en betw een 30 to 39 y e a rs of age. Com panies covered by the research included firm s o p e ra ­ tin g in d iffe re n t b ran ch es of th e n atio n al econom y, m ost often involving production and tra d e (IPE D sam ple) and services (W arsaw — Chicago sam ple). W hen asked to nam e some of th e m ain factors th a t pro m p ted them to s ta r t business activities, w om en m ost often indicated th e follow ing ones:

— professional ex perien ce an d know ledge. This stem m ed from p revio us life experience w hen ’’gaining professional skills by w om en w as u n a ­ voidably connected w ith achieving still h igh er professional p re stig e ” .5;

— perceived op p o rtu n ities (facility of en te rin g th e m ark e t, a v a ila ­ bility of prem ises, easy access to re le v a n t m ark ets, sm all capital etc.);

— fam ily trad itio n s and a d ju stin g to th e profile of th e firm a lre ad y in existence;

— th e desire to im prove th e fin ancial situ ation of th e fam ily. The m ost im p o rta n t reason w hy w om en choose a business c a re e r are: in d e ­ pendence, economic incentive and self-fu lfilm en t.

Most of the w om en in terv iew ed are confident of th eir com panies’ su c ­ cess and th a t th e firm s w ill develop dynam ically. They tru s t th ey w ill h ave th e chance of facing new challenges and use the new o p p o rtu n itie s effectively. Taxes and o th er fin ancial obligations (including social se c u rity

5 J a n o w s k a Z., Economic Transform ation and Professional A ctivity of Women, Paper presented at a conference, Warsaw, May 1994.

Women’s Economic Empowerment... ₄₅

co n trib u tio n s) are m en tio n ed by w om en as m ain obstacles in th e ir com ­ p a n y ’s developm ent (lim ited resources fo r investm ent). W omen are also an x io u s ab o u t the sm all dem an d on th e m a rk e t (economic crisis in Poland, high ra te of u n em p loy m ent).

The sources of fin an cing consisted m ainly of th e com panies’ profits. A relu c ta n c e to use e x te rn a l sources of financing (bank credits) is a pecu liar and com m on p henom enon in th e Polish econom y.

In th e rese a rc h p ro je c t c a rrie d out by th e In stitu te for P riv a te E n ­ te rp rise and D em ocracy, an sw ers to th e question about w h e th e r being a w om an in fluences the effectiv eness of som e functions associated w ith ru n n in g a com pany suggest th a t th e re is a relatio n betw een p erfo rm in g these fu n ctio ns an d being a w om an. W omen believe th a t g e n d er is of no im p ortan ce w hile im p lem en tin g objectives such as: th e choice and m a n a ­ g em ent of p ersonnel, n eg o tiatin g w ith P olish and foreign p a rtn e rs,d ire c tin g technical and technological processes, m anaging th e com pany, obtainin g loans, cred its etc. in Polish an d foreign b an k s and fin ancial in stitu tio n s, dealing w ith local and c e n tra l a d m in istra tio n , holding talk s etc.6 In a com ­

p a ra tiv e rese a rc h stu d y c a rrie d ou t in th e form of an in te rn a tio n a l project, businessw om en fo un d it m ore d iffic u lt to deal w ith ban k s an d fin ancial in stitu tio n s. They m en tio n ed th e ir g en d er as a reason for d if­ ficulties e n c o u n tered in e ffo rts to a c re d it o r loan.

G en erally, th e m a n n e r of m an aging com panies is in th e opinion of businessw om en not a fun ctio n of gender, b u t m any o th er v ariab les, am ong w hich th e m ost im p o rta n t ones are: the m ark e t, econom ic policy, spouse’s c o n trib u tio n (reconciliating w o rk w ith fam ily duties). T he m ain reasons w hy m en and w om en have an u n eq u al s ta r t in business a re due to tra d itio n al stereo ty p es and assu m ption s on ’’w om an’s ro le ” , ’’w o m en ’s fear of success” or ’’w om en p re fe rrin g to stay a t h o m e”. In m any W estern countries, c u ltu ra l ste re o ty p e s k e p t w om en aw ay from m anag erial posts in com panies. They are allow ed to w ork at hom e, to be invisible assets of natio nal econom y.7 T h ere is still a conflict betw een fam ily in te re sts and the in te re sts of a w om an as an in d ep en d en t individual. M any b u si­ nessw om en have found a w ay to reconcile successful w ork in business w ith fam ily life. W om en’s organ izatio ns could play an im p o rta n t role in prom oting a m odel of a successful w om an and in en couraging w om en to become self-em ployed.

6 R o g u t A., Polish Women in P rivate Business, Institute for Private E nter­ prise and Democracy, a paper prepared for a conference organized by the Polish Chamber of Commerce, Warsaw 1994.

7 W omen’s home services as essential for life as air. And they are also ’’in v i­ sible” like air. Siniugina L., What is a fem inism? ’’State and Political C ulture”, vol. 12, 1991.

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Fig. 1. How do w om en make their living THE ART OF BEING A WOMAN ENTREPRENEUR

The settin g up of own business h as becom e a m ile stone fo r m an y wom en. It has led to some e x tra o rd in a ry careers (th a t is tru e n o t only in the Polish environ m ent) and to a new phenom enon: the ap p earan ce of wom en of success. Ladies like Ew a P lucińska and H enryka B ochniarz becam e m odels to be follow ed an d th e ir p o p u larity has been fre q u e n tly enhanced by the m edia. W om en’s clubs have been form ed, ivonically called the ’’A verage W oman C lubs” or m ore w orldly — ’’W om en’s F o ­ ru m ”. The clubs enabled th em to ’’w atch each o th e r”, to discuss th in g s th a t they had in common to get stro n g e r th ro u g h learn in g from each o th e r’s experiences.

M eeting m an y obstacles on thedr w ay tre a te d by m en som entim es as com petitors and on o th er occasions as p a rtn e rs in business, su rp rise d by th e ir courage to take risks, including risks in th e ir p riv ate lives (like ru n n in g th e fam ily), hiding th e ir g en der u n d e r sexless uniform s, P olish wom en en tered the p a th of e n te rp rise and of stre n g th e n in g th e ir in d e­ pendence. Did th e y succeed in m ain tain in g th e ir fem inity ? M acho-w om en w ere in fashion for not v e ry long (perhaps th ey nev er w ere a t all — perh ap s th ey w ere invented by enem ies of w om en in business?). T hey m anaged to tu rn th eir in h ere n t featu res, p rim a rily intuition, in to an excellent tool to success in business. S till lacking self-assurance, v u ln e ­ rab le to critics and afraid of being laughed at, th ey decided to act in ­ dep en d en tly read y to bear all the consequences tfcat could ensue. A ’’P olish M o ther” seem s to have no chance w hile com peting w ith ’’Polish B usiness W om an”. W hen asked w h eth er: th ey w ould ra th e r stop w orking? o w ners

W omen’s Economic Empowerment... ₄₇

of p a rtn e rs in d iffe re n t com panies an sw ered unanim ously: "We w an t to w ork!”. W hen tem p te d w ith prom ises of com fort and the prospect of having m ore fre e tim e and a h ap p y life, th ey answ ered: ”We w an t to develop. We w a n t to be p a rtn e rs for ou r husbands and be able to have in te re stin g co n v ersatio n s w ith o u r ch ild ren ...” A nd th ey also said th a t ’’life w ith o u t w o rk w ould be dull... and d rag o n ” .

The a b ility to m ake decisions and to prov e them selves, to p lan the co m pan y ’s d ev elop m en t, to u n d e rsta n d new w ays of doing things, to lea rn and firs t of all to ’’have th e resp o n sibility for all the successes a n d fa ilu re s” , th a t’s w h a t a ttra c ts w om en in business. T hey devote a lot of tim e to th e ir e n te rp rises. Business becom es th e ir passion. They try to rem a in good m em b ers of th e ir fam ilies. T h a t’s w h ere th e m ost serious problem s occur. The questio n to a n sw er is: ’’W ho re a lly am I?” T his r e ­ su lts from th e ir tra d itio n a l upb rin g in g fro m an em erging feeling of g u ilt and th e a n x ie ty of n eg lectin g som ebody. A loss of th e ir beloved h appens som etim es to be th e p rice fo r loving business. Each w om an solves th a t dilem m a in h e r ow n h e a rt. Some w ould say: ” 1 am a poor businessw om an and a poor fam ily m em b e r since I n ev er h ave enough tim e to do e v e ry ­ th in g in a p e rfe c t w a y ”. O th ers w ould calm ly agree: ” 1 try to be good in b o th a re a s” . B usinessw om en know v e ry w ell th e ir lad y frie n d s’ com ­ plaints: ’’You w ere d iffe re n t. You used to h ave tim e fo r me. Now we a re no t good en o u g h fo r you. You d o n ’t need us a n y m o re ” . This is true. B usinessw om en do n o t have tim e. W hat ch anged is p e rh a p s n ot th em b u t th e ir w ay of life. T hey have to m ake choices all th e tim e and m ost often it is business th a t wins.

T h ere n e ith e r y o u r n a n n y nor y o u r g ran d m a w ould take yo u r place. A lthough th ey realize th e firm and th e fam ily being like ’’connected vessels” they choose ’’th e firm b u t for th e fa m ily ”.

The feeling of g u ilty conscience h a rd ly redu ces th e ir degree of in­ v o lvem en t in business. F am ilies have no choice b u t to collaborate. And even m ore, th ey still provide th e m ain source of fin ancial (initial capital) and m oral su p p o rt. T h ere a re p roblem s and th e re are changing moods and th e re are m igraines.

The ladies in te rv ie w e d told us th a t th ey have th e sam e problem s as m en b u t in addition, th ey have also p roblem s re la te d to ru n n in g the household. C ertain ly , th e re are also p roblem s caused by th e need to prove th a t ”a w om an can be a p a rtn e r in business, a brav e, professional and h a rd w orking h u m an b ein g ”. A ccording to m an y in th is p a tria rc h a l w orld th e re is n eed fo r w om en n o t only to ru n a business b u t also to change th e m a n ’s m en ta lity . One w ay of doing this is by rem oving th e isolation being able to p rese n t oneself to build o n e’s ow n position, such tra its as being co n sisten t and in d u strio u s are helpful. A nd besides th ey

48 Ewa M aslyk-M usial

rem ain fem ales. To be a w om an of success does not exclude being sexy. ”We do n o t have to be colorless and rem ain in th e background. To hide ourselves in shapeless o u tfits ”. A businessw om an w ants to be a b u tte rfly and not a m oth.

To m ain tain a p ro p er ratio betw een being a w om an and a professional is a d ifficu lt thing ev ery w ere in the w orld and in Poland in p a rticu la r. According to the ladies we in terview ed w om en in Poland are attack ed by m ales m ore often th a n in th e U nited S tates. The a rt of creatin g a p ro p er ratio is even m ore im p o rta n t because th e presence of fem ales softens in business. W omen in tro d u ce m ore in te lle c t into business. T heir nam es are not associated w ith scandals b u t on th e co n tra ry , w ith w elfare and c h a rity activities w ith helping others. F or all th e ladies in terv iew ed th e ir credo in business consisted of professional a ttitu d e and fa ir play. L earn in g these w as n ot easy. They sta rte d th e ir business v e ry often in th e ir p riv a te a p a rtm e n ts and w ere lu ck y if th ey had a co m pu ter ”to help th e m ”. W hen they look back fo r a w hile, th e th in g th a t th ey m ost re g re t is the energy w asted on learn in g how to live by th e ru les of political economy. ’’One m u st m ake up for e v e ry th in g now, both as a co u ntry and as in d iv id u al”. So th ey learn. They in v est in them selves. W ith en th u siasm they talk ab o u t m anagerial tra in in g , abo ut learn in g a sse r­ tiveness, checking w h e th e r decisions th ey a re m aking in th eir businesses are good. They th in k ab o u t th e fu tu re , ab o u t th e p rospects in th e ir a c ti­ vities (th ey are optim ists). They plan to u p g rad e th e ir com panies. They set up n ew co nstructions, b u y m achines, broaden the scopes of th e ir activities, establish jo in t v en tu res, increase q u a lity stan d ard s. T hey talk about lo ng -term strateg ies, business plans, fin an cial resu lts, credits, ta x policy. They co n cen trate on the developm ent and em p loy m en t policy of th e ir firm s and on th e ir leaflets, prospects, bulletins. They exchange th eir business cards and ru n to banks, out to m eet C h ris’ and B e tty ’s teach ers a t school and on th e ir w ay th e re th ey stop for a quick snack.

So we are w itnessing changes in th e role of th e w om an and in h er w ork style. N ext to a m an w alks som etim es his lady — a p a rtn e r w ho can su rp rise him w ith h e r m an agerial skills and h e r business sense. A nd y e t she rem ain s a fem ale — ten d er, sensitive and w ith a foresight. She will m anage in a d ifficu lt e n v iro n m en t and w ill enjoy it. Business has becom e an in tegral p a rt of h e r life. W omen can be as charm in g w hen w orking on a com p u ter as w hen w earing old laces or exp loring a chest of d raw e rs inherited form th e ir g rea t g ran d m o th er. T hey can also h u n g on th e w all of th e ir office th e landscapes th a t th ey p a in te d th em selves and even convince th e ir husbands into serving coffee to th e com pany’s guests.

Udział kobiet w rozwoju ekonom icznym ₄₉ S T R E S Z C Z E N I E

W iele jest intrygujących pytań, które dotyczą ogólnie kobiet w zarządzaniu, a szczególnie kobiet przedsiębiorczych, a w ięc tych, które zarządzają w łasnym i fir­ mami. W yłonienie się na św iecie, w ostatnich latach, szczególnie licznej grupy kobiet przedsiębiorczych jest między innym i w ynikiem ograniczonego ich dostępu do w yższych stanow isk kierowniczych i istniejącej dyskrym inacji płacowej. Tra­ fiając na tzw. „szklany su fit” u niem ożliw iający im awans, kobiety realizują sw e preferencje i am bicje życiow e zakładając w łasn e firm y.

W Polsce, podobnie jak i w innych krajach postkom unistycznych, firm y zakładają najczęściej kobiety w średnim w ieku. Okres transform acji system ow ej jest przez nie postarzegany jako okazja do sam odzielności ekonomicznej i uniezależ­ nienia się od, jak uważają, często niekom petentnych przełożonych, trosk rodzinnych, ograniczeń finansow ych itp. Obawa przed bezrobociem stanowi rów nież czynnik aktyw izujący kobiety do przedsiębiorczości w yrażonej w zakładaniu i kierowaniu firmą.

W artykule przedstawiam panoramę pryw atyzacji w Polsce w zakresie pow sta­ w ania m ałych i średnich firm oraz wzrastającą rolę kobiet w tym sektorze gospo­ darki. O pisuję także kształtow anie się aktyw ności zaw odow ej kobiet w Polsce i jej w yrażenie się obecnie w form ie wzrostu przedsiębiorczości i liczby firm prow a­ dzonych przez kobiety.

Przedstaw iam charakterystykę kobiety biznesu w Polsce zarówno od strony dem ograficznej, jak też społeczno-ekonom icznej. Sposób zarządzania firm am i przez kobiety-w łaścicielk i opisuję w podrozdziale — sztuka bycia przedsiębiorczą.

W artykule zawarte są także dane porów naw cze pochodzące z badań nad kobie­ tami przedsiębiorczym i w Polsce i w USA, przeprowadzonym i przez zespół polsko- -am erkański w tych krajach na przełom ie 1993/1994 roku. W yniki badań w skaują na istnienie dużych podobieństw w zakresie trudności napotykanych przez kobiety w prowadzeniu w łasn ych firm a także na podobne m otyw acje, oczekiw ania i źródła satysfakcji w ystępujące wśród kobiet biznesu w obu badanych krajach.