First balance of the Project INTEGRATES, Women of the Cooperatives and Business Leadership

The project Integrates, cofinanciado by the Ministry of Environingingment and Half Rural and Marino, FEADER and Cooperative Agro-alimentary, is an experimental project that gave beginning in 2011 with the aim to support the improvement of the participation of the women in the fields of taking of decision of the cooperatives and visibilizar his participation in the cooperatives of the half rural. The project Integrates pretends to promote the participation of the women in the fields of decision of the cooperatives through a program of stimulus of the leadership and of implantation of innovative measures in a group of cooperatives. The character plurianual of the project has allowed to define distinct phases of intervention of which the first has been the realisation of a study-diagnostic to know the situation of the agricultural cooperatives in relation with the equality of gender and the position of the women in the same.

The main quantitative data obtained through the questionnaire, indicate us that the women participate in an inferior percentage like associated (25,45%) in the cooperatives, and his presence diminishes in the ones of second degree (18,06%), as well as in which they have greater figures of business and in the ones of urban field. The assemblies configure like spaces masculinizados, in which the assistance of women is scarce and supposes a lower percentage still that as associated (13,9%). The percentage follows falling when analysing the feminine presence in the organs of representation, as they suppose only 3,5% of the people participants in the Councils Rectors, and in the cooperatives of second degree so only reaches 2,26%.The different participation of women and men in the organs rectors appreciates also in the type of places exerted, of such form that the women hardly possess representation in the places of presidency (1,75% of the total of charges of Presidency) and of vicepresidencia (2,17%).

Like positive appearance to stand out, the study ascertains that the half age of the women associated and of the participants in the Councils Rectors is inferior to the one of the men, what indicates us that the process of incorporation of the women to the cooperative is recent and his evolution can be positive. Other appearances reseñables are the scarce utilisation of the figure of the cotitularidad (that it does not arrive to 12%), as well as the scarce presence of measures of conciliation of the labour life, personal and familiar for the people associated to the cooperatives (only 2,84% of the cooperatives possess programs of replacement or break and 37,5% of the assemblies celebrate in nocturnal schedule).