Archive for May, 2010

17
May

A question of balance

One woman - different roles

One woman - different roles

Recently, I was on the panel at a business conference where I was reminded that the ’work-life’ balance dilemma means something quite different in reality to a family man running his own business and advancing his career to a woman in similar situation.

The panel was asked ‘how do you balance time with your family and the priorities of work and driving you business forward?’ My male co-expert, who runs a very successful financial services business, explained that he prioritised his family in terms of what time he returns home from work, ensuring weekends are family time and that he has chosen not to work away from home during the week.  All the while he was speaking, I was thinking about the three hours a morning 3 days a week I have while my son is at nursery and the work I need to cram in. When I had the opportunity to answer, I could only state – what all the women in the room knew – that the majority of women still have the lion’s share of domestic responsibility and childcare.  For women, it is all the more important to focus, prioritise, become an expert multi-tasker and not to sweat the small stuff – including the ironing!  I also admitted for me it is hard work, but worth it for the choice I made for a flexible lifestyle and being my own boss. (more…)

12
May

Do women hold up half the sky?

Do women hold up half the sky?

Around much of the world, inequality between men and women remains, in terms of education, access to healthcare, work, salaries, business leadership and involvement in political institutions. There has however, been an evolution in the views around the role of women over the last forty years and we have moved closer towards the aspiration of equality. But significant gaps remain globally and how far have we come in the UK?

Mao Zedong said women hold up half the sky, but you wouldn’t think so if you looked at the FTSE-100 Boards. Women make up a mere 12% of the FTSE directors in the UK. Sir John Bond, ex-chief at HSBC, now at Vodafone considers it bad business where women are not given equal opportunities…’apart from being unjust, it’s bad for business.’ (‘Fathers and Daughters’ Management Today, Nov. 2009).  Yet according to the Economist 2010,

Women’s economic empowerment is arguably the biggest social change of our times.

The limited representation of women in top positions does not reflect the fact that women make up the majority of Talent in the UK with more and more coming into the workforce, achieving academically and developing professionally. So this issue is not that the talent doesn’t exist – an argument often cited.

Further, in this extraordinary month of election campaigning, TV debates, a hung parliament, political negotiations and finally a coalition government – there has been a significant lack of visibility of women in the political arena.

We did see an increase in the number of women MPs from 128 to 139 (or from 19.1% to 21.3%) (see One World Action) and given all the talk of an era ‘new politics’, is this enough? Further, as I write this blog there has been one woman named in the Con-Lib coalition cabinet – Theresa May – Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equality.   With a mere 55 female Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs, can we expect any more?

As with the case for economics and business the lack of women in top roles and positions in the political arena is bad for government and disillusioning. We still have some way to go. ‘Women holding up half the sky’ remains an aspiration.