EFA World of Women*

Women* still are underrepresented in many aspects of public life. It is common sense that a society cannot prosper, politically or economically, if half of its population is entirely or partially excluded. Feminism has made this deficit visible in the past decades – and it is our task to do something about it. The European Forum Alpbach has a long history of great minds and high-level discussions. Unfortunately, feminist issues have missing for far too long: the first official record of a working group on gender questions only dates back to 1986.

From 2023 to 2025, we are bringing together all efforts to increase the visibility of women* at the EFA event in our initiative named “World of Women* (WoW*)”. We are convinced this effort will result in a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the challenges Europe is facing. We firmly believe that our world needs everyone – male, female and non-binary – on board to find solutions to the multiple crises of our time: climate change, challenges to democracy, the financing of our future, and geopolitical security issues.

We also aim to provide professional networking opportunities for women* in Alpbach to increase their possibilities in the working world. The EFA World of Women* is carried by all female board members and was initiated by women* from the EFA Board and Council, the Forum Alpbach Network, our partner organisations, and members of the EFA Association. The European Forum Alpbach applies the diversity criterion “gender parity” to every EFA session and women* are especially encouraged to take a seat and speak up in network sessions.

Female* talent development: The significant gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM subjects) is addressed by inviting emerging talents from this realm to participate in the EFA event: emerging talents under 30 for the scholarship programme, female leaders between 30 and 40 for the Alpbach in Motion leadership lab, and the general audience of the annual event.

Connecting women*: During the modules Lab Days, Europe in the World Days, and Austria in Europe Days, on hour per day offers a female*-only network opportunity, moderated by women* from the EFA community.

Gender count: EFA will publish numbers related to gender distribution among participants. In 2023, 54.9% of the scholarship holders, 53.2% of the contributors, 44.24% of all other participants were female*.

Collaboration with partners: To equip women* with skills, abilities and the willingness to take leadership roles, we are cooperating with the Female Future Festivals under the motto “(Be)Come a Leader: Equipping Women for the Moment of Truth” in the following panel discussions:

• “The power of networks: How the right contacts help to achieve professional success,” in Munich (April 18).
• “Building resilience: Dealing with challenges and resistance as a female leader,” in Bodensee (April 25).
• “Insights from experienced female leaders on how to make effective decisions in high-pressure situations” (June 20).

At the annual EFA event, there will be activities with “SHEconomy” and “The Female Factor” onsite in Alpbach.