According to Manager Association executive director Sonja Šmuc, the campaign Vključi.Vse (Include All) is about talent management. "If the top is dominated by one gender, talent management in the company is not optimal, which also affects the company's competitiveness."

Šmuc has told the STA that companies in which men and women are represented equally at managerial positions are more successful than those where this balance is not present, pointing to a Fortune 500 survey.

The survey carried out by consultancy McKinsey and US non-governmental organisation Catalyst shows that the yield on invested capital in companies with equal gender representation at top posts is 112% higher than in companies which do not promote this equality.

Manager Association president Dejan Turk said at a presentation of the project at the end of 2013 that a balanced representation of genders at managerial positions in companies was "good for business", adding however that many companies still fell to stereotypes about women.

Psychologist Eva Boštjančič of the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts believes that it is good for any group to be balanced - not only in terms of gender, but also in terms of age and education. Best possible results are reached with complementary teams, she said.

This should also be the case in education, where the structure of employees is dominated by women, Boštjančič said, adding that all professions should be presented to the young people as interesting for both genders.

Only two of the biggest 20 Slovenian companies listed on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange are chaired by women, while the share of women in the management boards of these companies stands at 20%. On the other hand, women represent 60% of university graduates, according to the Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Ministry.

A survey carried out among more than 250 major employers in Slovenia by the government Office for Equal Opportunities in October 2011 has meanwhile shown that a woman was at the highest decision-making post in more than 20% of these companies.

The benefits of gender balance at decision-making posts in companies will also be discussed at a conference which will be held next week at the Brdo pri Kranju conference centre. The main question will be whether companies can afford not to utilise the potential of women.

Women in Slovenia are better educated than men on average, but they take lower and less paid jobs. They are also less represented in politics and business, the Labour Ministry, which is also in charge of equal opportunities, said ahead of the conference.