Don't quota me...

Theresa May - A positive...and a negative...
does that make her neutral?
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This week we had the pleasure of welcoming a guest speaker from the organisation 'Chwarae Teg' or 'Fair Play' to Swansea Business School for a session on gender equality (or inequality) in business.  Chwarae Teg is an organisation that supports the economic development of women here in Wales, and I can imagine that those of you who are regular readers of this blogs will probably be able to predict that the very fact that this organisation exists annoys the hell out of me...

It probably annoys the hell out of them too.

I hope it does.

Our speaker, Ellie Harwood, was excellent; knowledgeable and balanced, with some excruciating examples of ignorance to share, and I was thoroughly impressed with way Chwarae Teg go about what they do, but I can't help feeling sad that they are seen as necessary.

This session was timely, as you may have seen in the news this week the reporting of the results of the Davies Review of women on boards.  Of course, one might find it ironic that a middle-aged, upper-classed, white male was asked to undertake the review...but one can only assume he was the best candidate for the job...is that right Dave?

As an aside...I find it hilarious that throughout the report Lord Davies himself refers to 'Chairmen' as the people who have to solve the problems.  Old habits run deep eh?

To add to the general farcical nature of the whole review, Theresa May gave a rather confused speech at the launch, which for me, highlighted many of the complexities here.  On her own behalf she championed the cause against so-called positive action, saying she didn't want to to be done any favours because of her gender and wanted to make it on her own merits, but at the same time she was supporting the recommendations of the report which, although it does not directly recommend government sponsored positive discrimination, simply seems to pass the buck to businesses (over to you Chairmen!) by recommending target levels that ought to be achieved.  I have two words on this - cop out.

Another disappointment in the reporting of the results of the review was the BBC's choice to angle the story on the (undisputable but deeply misleading fact) that the number of women on boards is at unprecedented levels.  I have to say I feel this is rather lazy journalism...of course any tiny increase is going to result in 'unprecedented levels', but this is not the story here.  The story is that there's inequality and nobody is dealing with the root causes.

So what is the root cause?  Simple. The issue we all know is there already, and the thing that our speaker from Chwarae Teg highlighted so eloquently this week.  Endemic enculturation and acculturation of gender stereotyping from a very early age.  Education is where we need to start...and not just the education of our children, but education throughout life.  Chwarae Teg are about to start piloting programmes in schools to break down gender stereotyping from a very early age, and I think this is excellent, but we need to do more...and those of us involved in education at University level or in organisational training and development have a role to play here too. But it's not simply about a half day training course on why we're all equal...it's about a culture change...and for that we need role models.  We don't, however, need to parachute these role models onto boards to meet false quotas...we simply have to start with ourselves.  Whether you're a man or a woman you can be a role model on this, just by thinking about the language you use and reflecting on the way you treat people in your workplace.

So, please don't quota me or any other woman onto a board - don't insult me by patronising me in this way.  Just appoint me on the basis of my ability to do a fantastic job, or don't appointment me at all.

My column in the business section of the South Wales Evening Post also addresses this issue this month (out Monday if you're interested) :)