The conference is focusing on the current challenges in management and discussing career paths of successful women managers and examples in practice of inclusive management.

The Managers' Association, which is organising the 14h Excellence of Women Managers conference together with Planet GV, said ahead of the event that women represent a 20% share in management boards of Slovenian companies. Around 5% are board presidents.

There is a lot of capable women in Slovenia who could take the highest positions in companies, but their share in these positions is small and disproportionate in comparison to the share in the entire population, the association noted.

Women represent a quarter of the membership in executive bodies in only five European countries - Finland, France, Latvia, Sweden and the Netherlands. Studies show that companies managed by mixed governing boards make up to 41% higher profits that those governed by single-gender managements.

Women quotas in governing bodies, which have so far been introduced only by Norway, is a topic of almost every conference of women managers, but there is still no reliable data about the effectiveness of this measure, Danijela Brečko of Planet GV has told the STA.

According to the organisers, the aim of the conference is also to present modern guidelines in management and take up new challenges in the field.

"The purpose of the conference is to encourage women to understand the framework and opportunities and to be more determined in developing their careers, with which they also give back to the society that has educated them," Managers' Association Sonja Šmuc said.

The special guest of this year's conference is Thoraya Al Awadhi of the United Arab Emirates, who has established or owned more than 50 companies dedicated to development of women entrepreneurship and support for international companies in entering the Arab markets.

The Artemida Awards for women managers will also be conferred at the event.