As a child in Texas, Tamara Box was regarded as argumentative but yet was also a leading light in her school’s debating society. These qualities led her to law school in London and Washington DC and she now leads Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP’s structured finance practice.
Read my profile of her here and learn why she suggests that women should never eat lunch alone.
As the debate around the use of quotas to increase the number of women on UK boards continues, so does the need to look at what’s working around the world to shift the gender diversity needle.
Earlier this month, the European Professional Women’s Network invited Claire Braund (pictured), co-founder of Women on Boards, the leading advocate for improving gender diversity on Australian boards, to a London event to speak about the Australian story and outline Australia’s track record of success around women gaining access to board positions in business, government, community and not-for-profit sectors.
Read my report of the event here.
The scond article in my series on how UK business is approaching the issue of women on boards is now available to read via theglasshammer.com.
According to a recent survey by executive recruiters Harvey Nash, 81% of women feel that bias in the appointment process has a major impact on female representation – but two-thirds (64%) do not support legal quotas.
Instead, respondents cited education and awareness as the single biggest opportunity for improving boardroom balance (44%), followed by published targets and regular reporting (40%). Eighty-four percent of women believe they personally need to do more to achieve a higher representation on the board.
It appears from the survey, conducted of 365 male and female board level and senior executives, that the majority of women in business want to be taken seriously for their expertise and not simply be viewed as having “won” a place on the board through a mandated quota, an observation with which Charlotte Sweeney, Head of Diversity & Inclusion, EMEA at Nomura PLC agreed. She said, “Women want to be appointed into roles because they are the best person for the role, not because they are a woman.”
Read the rest of the article here.
I’ve been commissioned by the Glass Hammer to write a series of articles which examine the impact of the Davies Review into women on boards and look into what difference the report and its recommendations will really make to the careers of women in UK plc. The first article has just been published:
In February 2011, Lord Davies of Abersoch released his long-awaited report,Women on Boards, a review of female representation at senior levels in UK plc. It was handed to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and sets out recommendations on targets to improve the gender balance in business. It stopped short of recommending the introduction of mandatory quotas (as already seen in Norway and Spain) but suggests that FTSE 100 companies should aim to have at least 25% female board member representation by 2015 – an increase from the 12.5% reported in 2010.
Other recommendations include the requirement for FTSE 350 companies to set their own targets on female representation, that companies should advertise non-executive board positions in order to encourage greater diversity in applications and that headhunting firms should draw up a voluntary code to address gender diversity.
Read the rest of the article here.
I’m very proud and honoured to announce that I have been named a winner of The International Alliance for Women’s World of Difference 100 Award for 2011.
Each year, TIAW recognises up to 100 women from around the world who have contributed to the economic empowerment of women and supported their advancement in society and business.
I will be attending the Global Forum in Washington DC this October and I’m very much looking forward to meeting my fellow award winners and hearing their stories.
Have you ever met or spoken to somebody who has achieved so much in their life that you’re lost for words? A few weeks ago I interviewed Stephanie Niven (top Oxbridge graduate, former star at Goldman Sachs, hand-picked to go with her boss to set up a new investment firm, winner of a Women in Banking and Finance award – oh and she does triathlons and competes in Iron (Wo)Man events too …) for a profile on The Glass Hammer.
In addition to being ferociously bright, she is also completely charming and was a joy to interview. What a great role model to other women.
… and she’s only 27.
Read my article here and prepare to be amazed …
The first of my three articles on LGBT issues for theglasshammer.com has now been published:
As part of this year’s celebrations of Gay Pride, The Glass Hammer decided to take a look at Sexuality in the City (of London) and ask – how are London’s big companies and financial institutions approaching the LGBT agenda and what do best practices look like in 2011? Are networks making a difference, is it any easier to be out at work than it once was and what does “success” look like if you’re building an integrated and inclusive workplace? Read more …
Next week, I head back to India for a further month. During this time, I’ll be having meetings in Mumbai and undertaking initial interviews for a very exciting new project – a book about women in India which has the provisional working title of Mother India – check out my new site here for further details.
After Mumbai, I’ll be back in Goa where I’ll again be volunteering with charity Educators’ Trust India, whilst also doing a bit of freelance writing work for my banking client in London.
Details of all of these adventures will be told over at the Gender Blog, so perhaps I’ll see you there.
It’s the time of year when diversity teams across the UK are frantically getting together material and case studies for use in their Opportunity Now submission – as the deadline for submitting one’s entry to this year’s Opportunity Now Awards is tomorrow, 7th January, at 12 noon.
I’m currently working on diversity communications in an interim capacity for an investment bank and so have been drafting their ON submission since mid-December. I’ve done one before (two years ago, when my entry won the inaugural 2009 Global Award) but this year’s form is a little different, as it’s combined with the entry form for The Times Top 50 Employers for Women too – the first time that the awards have been joined together in this way (and also the first time that the Times list has come under the ON umbrella). 
What this assignment is shown me is the value of an external eye. The entry form is very strictly word counted and has to be completely anonymous, with no references made to one’s business sector – so lots of use of “the company” rather than “the bank”, etc. It also has to be completely clear and unambiguous, with no use of in-house jargon or acronyms – and this has been quite a challenge, because there’s a belief that surely everyone will know what “WDIF” means?
(Answers on a postcard, or in the comments section below, if you have any idea!)
As well as the entry form, I’ve also had to write two 750 word case studies on two particular diversity initiatives; these will be assessed by the judging panel for motivation, commitment, impact and sustainability – and it’s a tough call to get across the details of the programmatic initiatives in such a tight word count whilst also ensuring that all bases are covered. This is where, I think, an external eye has been a help.
I’ve been able to chop out a lot of jargon and look at the copy as, we hope, the judges will – with clarity and understanding – without being blindsided by internal language or an innate yet unvoiced awareness of what the project is all about. I’ve also asked some awkward questions and obtained data and answers for certain sections, as I learned last time that data to support the case study is always very compelling – as is its absence.
The bank has entered for the ON awards before but never won or been shortlisted – so let’s see how they get on this year!
Working mums as role models
2 SepOne woman wrote to me to say:
“My daughter has just been diagnosed [with] ADHD. As a working mother you think ‘maybe if I had stayed at home she would be ok’. (I know it’s silly). So the article means a lot to me – thank you.”
Tags: Articles, children, parenting, theglasshammer, Women, workplace