Welcome to the Broad Experience, the show about women, the workplace, and success.

I'm Ashley Milne Tite.

This time, America may not have elected a female head of state, but most Scandinavian countries have,

and these countries have excellent reputations for gender equality.

This is something that's talked about in the government, and then it's talked about down

to sort of the preschool or the school level, and then amongst parents.

But despite that, the number of women in senior roles isn't that different from the US.

Actually, more women do have good education, but still we see the problem that it's men who are getting the highest salaries.

Coming up, we take a look at life for working women in the workaholic US.

Hours are long, parental leave is often non-existent, and good, affordable childcare can be hard to find.

And during the years I've been doing the show, I've often thought enviously about women in Scandinavia. They seem to have it so good. There's the state-funded

childcare, the shorter working week, what seems like a huge number of men who take an active

part at home. It sounds great. These countries usually top lists of best places to be a working woman.

But here's the paradox. Despite this wonderful approach to work-life balance, few women in

Scandinavia are in positions of power, especially in the private sector. You could say that

doesn't matter. After all, these societies are so much more equal than many others.

Working class women are far better off in the Nordic countries than they are in America.

Still, I wanted to probe a bit more. So I got in touch with three professional women in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Bronwyn Griffith is a curator at a contemporary art museum in Stockholm.

It's called Magazine 3.

She's American by birth, but she's lived abroad for years.

First she was in France.

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