Left to right: Dame Alison Rose (NatWest), Dame Sharon White (John Lewis Partnership), Susan Wojcicki (YouTube)
One A must Just look at the list of FTSE 100 CEOs to see how difficult it is for women to reach the top, as the vast majority of positions (91 percent) are held by men.
However, even for those who fail through the glass ceiling research suggests the experience is not what it seems.
The challenges facing women in the city's most senior jobs are highlighted in a new report from recruiter Russell Reynolds, who found women account for a record number of a tenth of all dismissals of company executives in the world last year.
According to financier Baroness Helena Morrissey, former chief executive of Newton Investment Management and mother of nine children, female executives in the UK are victims of the “tall poppy syndrome”.
“Often the women who take on these roles are very high status, and there is a tendency in this country to lay off people,” she says.
Growing concerns about the lack of equality in the city come after a year of high-profile female exodus.< /p>
This includes Dame Sharon White, who announced plans to step down as John Lewis chairman in October, and Sarah Bentley, who quit Thames Water amid intense scrutiny of the supplier.
Morrissey says there is no doubt that the women in question «suddenly found themselves under intense public pressure.»
Former longtime YouTube boss Susan Wojcicki was also among those who left for personal reasons last year, saying she was looking to «start a new chapter dedicated to my family, health and personal projects.»
Dame Inga Beale , a former chief executive of Lloyd's of London and the first woman ever to lead the insurance giant, says female executives still face huge challenges even when they reach the top.
“I don't particularly feel like when I was CEO, I was held to different standards, but sometimes there was criticism that I needed to act more like a man,” she says.
“ When you become a leader, if you have a different style that is not necessarily well understood or appreciated by others, they may expect you to behave in a more traditional way.”
The media can play a big role in raising the profile of female leaders,” says Beal, although she tried to block out any “noise.”
«I usually ignored the media because I didn't want to be distracted from work, and it was my coping mechanism,» she says.
Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of the Fawcett equality society, says even women who earn 10 or 20 times the average salary still face gender bias barriers.
“You can be a great CEO of a FTSE 100 company and make a fortune,” she says.
“But that doesn’t mean people don’t expect you to organize game days or care for the sick. a relative or turning up suddenly to pick up a child from school if he or she is not feeling well.”
Childcare responsibilities and caring for elderly parents are still overwhelmingly seen as a woman's responsibility, she says.
“It's so ingrained that it's not about rationally choosing who has the most time or whose time is economically the most valuable,” Olczawski says. “It's about what the expectations are or who is considered suitable and competent to perform these roles.”
The problems are compounded by the fact that many employers have not adapted to the flexibility needed to help women. to succeed, Olczawski adds.
“We still have ways of working that are stuck in the 1950s,” she says.
The challenges of childcare are echoed by Shevon Haviland, chief executive of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
“Clearly the challenges remain enormous,” she says.
«Research carried out by BCC in March last year found that two thirds of women believe they have missed out on career opportunities due to childcare responsibilities.»
Olczawski adds that women are also judged more harshly for their performance, regardless of seniority.
“We know that women are judged more negatively than men for objectively equal achievements,” she says. “So it's rooted in some really powerful ideas about gender norms—about how women should behave.”
Since 2018, women have lasted an average of 5.2 years in leadership positions, compared with 8.1 years for men, according to the analysis. from 12 stock markets, including the FTSE 100.
Studies looking more broadly at women in leadership roles have found similar patterns.
For example, female MPs tend to remain in their positions for shorter periods than their male counterparts.
“The theme came up that this is such a stressful environment that you may not be able to maintain it for very long, especially when balancing between responsibilities.” , says Olczawski.
She adds that for those with children, this is often only possible «because they have a partner who is willing to fully support them.»
«And there may be a limit on the amount of time that it's reasonable to ask them for a partner willing to make those sacrifices,” she says.
Morrissey also stresses that work may not always come before family. “Women want to achieve more than just financial results,” she says.
“When I was CEO of Newton, I didn’t want to delegate everything related to my children.
< p>“We had a nanny and my husband was at home since our fourth child was born, so I really lucky compared to most women. But I still didn't want to just see the kids on the weekends. I wanted to be an active parent.»
Former Lloyd boss Dame Inga Beale believes men and women have different approaches to power . Photo: Jason Alden/Bloomberg
Beale says such thinking is common among the women she meets in the city.
“When you become a leader, your time is rarely your own,” she says. “It's really difficult to find the right balance.”
When she decided to step down after five years at the helm of Lloyd's, Beale had many other things she was looking forward to.
p>“I felt like I needed five years to get to where I wanted to be,” she says. “And then I thought it was time for someone else to take control.”
Perhaps this reflects a broader understanding that women are more likely than men to cede control when they feel «I think there's been research on how women think about power and how it means different things to them, and it doesn't always mean just staying in that top position,» says Bill. “I think there is a difference between the sexes in this regard.”
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem of female representation in the city, but Morrissey says the key is for employers to adopt a more flexible approach.
“We still have work to do to modernize the way we work,” she says.
“I don’t think a CEO should be working 80 to 100 hours a day.” week, because they are not going to make serious judgments.
“But often that is what happens, and it does no one any good, neither man nor woman.”
Свежие комментарии