roundtable
The Business Magazine and a number of the proud sponsors of the Women in Business ‘WIB’ initiative – Taylor Made Computer Solutions, Barclays, Blake Morgan, Clarify and Windsor Vehicle Leasing – and a selection of winners and finalists from the WiB Awards 2016, recently gathered together for a roundtable discussion at the Oakley Hall Hotel on a cold January morning.
The aim of Women in Business, apart from celebrating the success and achievement of role models at the annual awards ceremony, is to explore ideas, concerns, and .....
Potential solutions to many of the progressive issues of gender diversity
Participants
Aly Taylor: HR director, Taylor Made Computer Solutions
Brenda Long: Chairman and partner, family law, Blandy & Blandy
Eleanor Bradley: Chief operating officer, Nominet
Claire Rowe: Chief executive, Shoosmiths
Kate Collings: Head of support team for South Coast, Surrey, and Sussex, Barclays
Lined up to debate: the Roundtable team Matt Wright reports the roundtable highlights
Perception differences – where does it all start?
Kath Shimmin, partner at Blake Morgan and one of the roundtable sponsors, highlighted a research study which had headlined in the news that morning and concluded that girls started to see themselves as less talented than boys from as early as the age of six years old. The study by US researchers on 400 children found that five-year-old boys and girls initially perceived no differences in their gender, but just one year on, cultural stereotypes had already begun to show.
“Women need to believe they are ‘worth it’ – how can we encourage women to ask for more when such stereotypes are ingrained from such an early age?”
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businessmag.co.uk The work:life balance issue
Claire Rowe, chief executive at Shoosmiths, noted that the work:life balance was probably the biggest issue out there for women, carrying the most negative perceptions about leadership positions; ie the need for women to make too many compromises as a consequence.
“It can be done though, and you can have a successful personal and professional life; one is not exclusive of the other. There is a solution to every problem, as we have no doubt all discovered round this table ... but work:life balance is probably the ‘scary box’ that puts most women off”
Nicola McQueen, executive director at
Kath Shimmin: Partner, Blake Morgan Lorraine Collis: CEO, ELM Group
Laura Davis: Managing director, Reality HR
Mark Akehurst: Head of business unit, Clarify
Nicola McQueen: Executive director, Capita
Philip Smith: Managing director, Windsor Vehicle Leasing
Tamsin Napier-Munn: Campaigns manager, The Business Magazine, chaired the discussion
Capita, agreed that initially she too had been put off by the negative perceptions of leadership positions, and had avoided a few promotions on account of her three small children.
“I’ve learned to plan my working day around home life ... not the other way
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MARCH 2017
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