Babies, buggies and business
Nearly 50 alumni, and just as many toddlers, showed up for NHH’s very first parental leave meet-up for alumni in Oslo.
“I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to reconnect with old classmates who are in the same phase of life,” says Sunniva Adam, the mind behind the alumni network’s parental leave gathering.
On the second floor of NHH’s Oslo campus, the strollers are lined up like rows of train carts. Some babies are newborns, others are already crawling. Some nap in carriers, some are rocked in their strollers, and some are busy playing, or stealing toys from each other.
“In our everyday lives, we’re busy with demanding jobs. Now that we’re home, we have a little window of time, and it’s nice to gather for a social event that accommodates crawling babies and offers a bit of professional input,” Adam says.
Paternity quota in the spotlight
The professional topic of the day is Norway’s paternity quota as a gender equality measure.
In front of crawling infants and a curious crowd of new parents stands Agnes Bamford, who recently defended her PhD on the Norwegian paternity leave scheme.
“My research shows that men around the world want more time with their children and families,” says Bamford.
From the stage, she explains how the EU has taken inspiration from the Norwegian model, where 90% of fathers use their share of the leave. A few years ago, the EU introduced a new directive requiring all member states to offer a minimum of 10 days of paid paternity leave.
A rare and welcome opportunity
Among the 50 participants, over a third are men. One of them is Aksel Mjøen.
“It’s great to get some intellectual stimulation. You don’t often get to combine babies and professional development. This is a rare and much-needed opportunity,” says Mjøen, who is on paternity leave for the second time.
With him is his ten-month-old son, Olav. During his time at NHH, Mjøen wrote his master’s thesis on the division of parental leave.
“The paternity quota and the Norwegian leave system are both strong, but we’re not there yet. I think that employers need to find better ways to support women, so they don’t fall one or two years behind every time they take maternity leave,” he says.