GLL partnered up with Swedbank to launch an open online database of women professionals, with the goal of improving the visibility of women experts in the public discourse formed by the Lithuanian media. The platform will facilitate access to all the expertise women professionals can offer, make their voices heard, and help more accurately represent the real view of the current professional market in Lithuania, as well as encourage female experts to be more prominent.
Based on the 2020 study conducted by Mediaskopas, men were more quoted in the media – their opinions are featured in 67% of the content, while women only make up 33%. The voice of female experts was mostly heard on topics such as society, human rights, education, and equality, however, the study found that the aforementioned topics receive the least attention from the media.
Aušra Kukelkaitė, Executive Director of GLL, pointed out that discussions and conferences in Lithuania are often incomplete, and do not touch upon important sides of the argument. The most obvious reason is that the arguments are mostly voiced from the male perspective. Even though the situation is slowly changing for the better, there is still much room for improvement. The Profesionalės.lt initiative, therefore, seeks to aid the content creators who stem for richer and more insightful conversations to be broadcasted to the public.
According to Dovilė Grigienė, the head of the initiative partner Swedbank in Lithuania, there is no shortage of professionals with excellent education and impressive work experience in Lithuania. Unfortunately, the representation of women in the media and at various conferences is disproportionately low.
Profesionalės.lt platform will create opportunities for event organizers, journalists, and other content creators to get introduced to new faces, discover voices unheard before and thus balance the public discourse with professional voices and opinions from every field of expertise.
Women professionals from all areas are invited to join the platform. Just fill in the form on https://www.profesionales.lt/registracija