1.4 Denise, Paula, and the naked Swedes

The Local’s Sophie Miskiw sits down with Armina Etminan, education manager at Make Equal, a Stockholm based-company that has reached over 100 million people with its campaigns to help organisations and businesses engage practically with equality.Armina introduces the concept of norm creativity and explains how it can be used to create more inclusive external communications. Norms, she explains, are limiting and exclude people. By identifying these norms, companies can create new ways to engage with and include people both within and outside of the organisation.Read more about everything discussed in the podcast by clicking the links below:A Woman's PlaceA Woman's Place podcastMake EqualNorm creativityLeklust’s pram-pushing SpidermanThe original music at the start and end of the podcast is called Lions and was composed by the all-female Stockholm-based band REIGN. Check them out on Instagram.A Woman's Place is produced by The Local in partnership with Invest Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Recruitment is one of the most important tools to reach diversity within your workplace."The Local’s Sophie Miskiw is joined by Henrik Fröjmark, Managing Director of Rättviseförmedlingen, a Swedish fundraising foundation focused on promoting equality and diversity. Based in Stockholm, the initiative helps different projects, organisations and media companies to find candidates from underrepresented areas with relevant knowledge and experience.Henrik discusses the most common mistakes companies make during the recruitment process and what they can do to avoid them. After all, he says, “if you only recruit from half the population you will miss out on a lot of talent."PODCAST GOES HERERead more about everything discussed in the podcast by clicking the links below.A Woman's PlaceA Woman's Place podcastRättviseförmedlingenDiversityThe original music at the start and end of the podcast is called Lions and was composed by the all-female Stockholm-based band REIGN. Check them out on Instagram.A Woman's Place is produced by The Local in partnership with Invest Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"How can we in a specific situation make people feel at home, welcome, talk to each other in a more fair way, not stereotyping or excluding?”The Local's Sophie Miskiw is joined by Pernilla Alexandersson, CEO and founder of Add Gender, a Stockholm-based consultancy service committed to improving equality and diversity in the workplace. Pernilla discusses the steps companies can take to start measuring how equal their workplaces are as well as the benefits that result from more diverse organisations. She highlights the most common issues companies face of their quest for diversity and how to overcome them and increase inclusivity. Read more about everything discussed in the podcast by clicking the links below:A Woman's PlaceA Woman's Place podcastAdd GenderEQmeterInclusivenessThe original music at the start and end of the podcast is called Lions and was composed by the all-female Stockholm-based band REIGN. Check them out on Instagram.A Woman's Place is produced by The Local in partnership with Invest Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second episode of A Woman's Place season two, The Local’s Sophie Miskiw sits down with Johanna Lundin, CEO and founder of Equalate, a Stockholm-based consultancy service dedicated to developing equality, diversity and inclusion within organisations.Johanna explains why all businesses should have a gender equality policy and, more importantly, how to bring it to life. She offers solutions that help companies to get a full picture of gender equality in their workplaces and practical steps they can take to make all employees feel safe, valued and able to succeed.PODCAST GOES HERERead more about everything discussed in the podcast by clicking the links below:A Woman's PlaceEqualateGender equality policy, SwedenThe original music at the start and end of the podcast is called Lions and was composed by the all-female Stockholm-based band REIGN. Check them out on Instagram.A Woman's Place is produced by The Local in partnership with Invest Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Most of the organisations we at AllBright meet want to talk about, 'How do we find, hire and keep women?'. And they don't see how the recruitment process or promotion process is biased."Season two of A Woman's Place kicks off with The Local's Sophie Miskiw meeting Jennifer Råsten, training strategist at AllBright Foundation, a politically-independent, non-profit foundation that promotes equality and diversity on the management level in Sweden.Jennifer regularly meets with companies that want to increase female representation on their leadership teams, many of them unaware that the issue is more deeply rooted than they realised. She highlights the many benefits of diverse management teams and offers advice to companies that are keen to get more women into leadership positions.Read more about everything discussed in the podcast by clicking the links below:A Woman's PlaceAllBright FoundationMeritocracyDeloitte study 'Inclusive Mobility: How mobilizing a diverse workforce can drive business performance'McKinsey study 'Women Matter: Ten years of insights on gender diversity''Thinking, Fast and Slow' by Daniel KahnemanThe original music at the start and end of the podcast is called Lions and was composed by the all-female Stockholm-based band REIGN. Check them out on Instagram.A Woman's Place is produced by The Local in partnership with Invest Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"If you just have an organisation with white men, its going to be very boring."So declares Christer Modig, VP Radio of Nordic Entertainment Group, during an interview with The Local's Sophie Miskiw at Almedalen Week 2018. Gender equality was a recurring theme throughout the week-long event which takes place annually in Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland.This special episode includes a series of interviews with some of the people who are continually working to make sure Stockholm is, and remains, A Woman's Place.Entrepreneur and investor Margareta Neld and public relations expert Ann-Sofie Olson are two of the three founders of Asynjor Invest, a platform which educates women in investing so they can gain more control over their capital. The pair discuss how the platform operates as well as why Stockholm is the perfect place to launch such a venture.Plan International is a charity that advances equality for girls around the world. Sophie speaks with Agnes Björn, acting program director at Plan International Sweden, to get a better idea of what the organisation is doing to support young girls in conflict zones.If we learned one thing from the #MeToo campaign, it’s that for real change to happen men have a big role to play. Particularly men in senior positions who have the power to instigate that change. One seminar at this year's Almedalen Week discussed just this issue. 'Women say #MeToo, what do the men say?' was organised by cooperative housing federation HSB Göteborg and included speakers from companies such as Volvo, the Swedish police, and Chalmers University of Technology. Also on the stage was the CEO of HSB Göteborg Lars Göran Andersson who joined Sophie for a chat following the seminar.Christer Modig is a veteran of MTG, Sweden’s leading international entertainment group, and spent over seven years as the CEO of MTG Radio. He found a few minutes during the busy week to explain to Sophie what MTG is doing to ensure the company is, and continues to be, a place where both men and women can work free from discrimination.Read more about everything discussed in the podcast by clicking the links below:A Woman's PlaceAlmedalen WeekNordic Entertainment GroupMTGGotlandAsynjor InvestPlan International Sweden#MeToo movementVolvoChalmers University of TechnologyHSB GöteborgSwedish police forceThe original music at the start and end of the podcast is called Lions and was composed by the all-female Stockholm-based band REIGN. Check them out on Instagram.A Woman's Place is produced by The Local in partnership with Invest Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'People think 'social robots' will steal all our jobs. I get lots of disaster questions like, 'When will robots take over the world?''For Jana Tumova and Iolanda Leite, a woman's place is in the lab. Both of the assistant professors moved to Stockholm to work in the Department of Robotics at the esteemed KTH Royal Institute of Technology, exploring the many possibilities of robots.From helping the elderly to live independently to the humble vacuum cleaner, robots are predicted to play an increasingly significant role in the future. And Jana and Iolanda are two women shaping that future.Unfortunately, the STEM sciences are still heavily male dominated, an issue the women in KTH's Department of Robotics are trying to change. For two years, Jana and Iolanda have been involved in an initiative aimed at encouraging more women to apply to KTH. It's working, they add, describing it as 'magical' when just one young person changes their mind and decides to pursue STEM studies.And in case you're wondering: No, say Jana and Iolanda, robots are not going to take over the world anytime soon.Read more about everything Jana and Iolanda discuss by clicking the links below:A Woman's PlaceThe future needs GiantsKTH Department of RoboticsSocial roboticsGender gap in STEM sciencesThe original music at the start and end of the podcast is called Lions and was composed by the all-female Stockholm-based band REIGN. Check them out on Instagram.A Woman's Place is produced by The Local in partnership with Invest Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Isn't it time that we try women in decision making and trying to make peace? Because men have really failed."Sweden's Minister of Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström is no ordinary politician. Throughout her 30+ year career, she has served as the United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict; European Commissioner for the Environment; and as Sweden's own Deputy Prime Minister.She's also the woman responsible for Sweden's world-famous 'feminist foreign policy' which places gender equality at the core of Swedish foreign policy.In this episode of A Woman's Place, host Samanda Ekman hands over to The Local's Commercial Editor Sophie Miskiw who joined Margot at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm. The pair got down to the nitty gritty of what it means to have a 'feminist foreign policy', what women can do if they experience abuse, and whether Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Löfven is guilty of 'mansplaining'.Read more about everything Margot and Sophie discuss by clicking the links below:A Woman's PlaceSweden's feminist foreign policyThe Stockholm Forum on Gender EqualitySweden gives a copy of We Should All Be Feminists to every 16-year-oldDomestic violence and abuseUnited NationsEuropean Commission#MeToo movementThe wonderful music at the start and end of the podcast is called Lions and was composed by the all-female Stockholm-based band REIGN. Check them out on Instagram.A Woman's Place is produced by The Local in partnership with Invest Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Just as there is a pay gap, there is an orgasm gap. Why aren’t we talking about that?"When it comes to taboo topics, this week's guests don't hold back.Host Samanda Ekman is joined by Irish author Denise Conway who moved to Stockholm for love in 2011...only to split up with her partner two days later.She decided to stay and, in the six years since, has made the career transition from head of sales at clean-tech company Climeon to soon-to-be published author. Her book The Flower Empowered tackles pelvic floor dysfunction, a chronic, uncomfortable, and distressing condition suffered by millions of women around the world.Her fellow guest, Venezuelan textile designer Paula Maso, watches from afar as her home country continues to be ravaged by ongoing political and socioeconomic crisis. Paula recalls growing up in Venezuela, the surprising present her female friends received for their 15th birthdays, and why moving to Sweden has given her the freedom to live her life the way she wants.Together with Samanda, Denise and Paula discuss unrealistic beauty standards, period art, and why Stockholm is a great place to lay women's issues bare.Listen to episode four of A Woman's Place to find out why the straight-talking guests firmly believe that in Stockholm "you're a human beyond your gender". Read about everything Denise and Paula mentioned in the podcast by clicking on the links below.A Woman's PlaceHappy SocksClimeonThe Flower EmpoweredStockholm's blue penisThe orgasm gapGender equality in SwedenPelvic floor dysfunctionThe wonderful music at the start and end of the podcast is called Lions and was composed by the all-female Stockholm-based band REIGN. Check them out on Instagram.A Woman's Place is produced by The Local in partnership with Invest Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"We need to continue driving equality because if we don't have targets or a vision we can also fall behind."To the rest of the world, Stockholm may seem light-years ahead in terms of equality. But the Swedes know best of all that, without continued efforts, the situation can quickly regress.Host Samanda Ekman and The Local's James Savage are joined by Managing Director of management and technology consultancy Capco, Anette Tånneryd, and Ericsson veteran and co-founder of Stockholm-based Lennox PR agency, Elin Ahldén, to discuss how Stockholm can continue on its upward trajectory towards equality.Both born and raised in Sweden, the two also spent many years living and working in the United States before returning to home soil. From the famous latte pappas to universal daycare, they discuss the reasons that drew them back and why, for them, it simply "makes sense" to be in Stockholm.Find out more about everything Anette and Elin mentioned in the podcast by clicking on the links below.A Woman's PlaceIBMAccentureCapcoEricssonLennox PRStockholm is the second largest FinTech hub in EuropeParental leave in SwedenDaycare in SwedenThe LocalAmerican Chamber of CommerceThe wonderful music at the start and end of the podcast is called Lions and was composed by the all-female Stockholm-based band REIGN. Check them out on Instagram.A Woman's Place is produced by The Local in partnership with Invest Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.