smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

The issue of gender inequality in the workplace never goes away.

A report on the gender balance among corporates from the World Economic Forum shows that men still dominate in the boardroom.

Although the UK came a respectable sixth in terms of the number of women in the workforces of the companies surveyed (the US came top), we scored a fat zero in regards to the number of women in those companies who were CEOs (Finland came first with 13 per cent).

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking at an event for International Women’s Day, announced that he would consider changing the law to enforce leading listed UK companies to employ more female directors to enhance equality.

As we are on the cusp of an election, Brown has carte blanche to promise whatever his latest audience wants to hear. While forcing a quota upon companies seems like a step too far, the gender inequalities in the City are alive and well. Research from the Cranfield School of Management showed that by the tail end of 2009 the number of FTSE 100 female executive directors was falling.

Men continue to dominate the business landscape. If you visit a law firm or accountancy firm in the City or West End, the chances are the partners will all be men, the girls on reception will be giggly young blondes, and it’ll be women serving the tea and biscuits in the boardroom. It’s not quite the machismo of Mad Men, the TV series about the US advertising industry in the 1960s but, by and large, it’s 'the chaps' who still rule the roost. That’s why they pay themselves more than their female counterparts.

The women who succeed in the big corporates and as entrepreneurs who run their own business aren’t crusaders for feminism or campaigners for equality. In fact, speaking to them about the issues surrounding ‘women in business’ often elicits a curt response. They simply are where they are because they’re ambitious and want to excel at their jobs, be that running a global corporate or running a small business.

So is the gender imbalance a sign that sexism is alive and well in the workplace? Again, when this question is posed to women who are successful, they invariably prefer to point to the need for professionalism. They won’t tolerate employees, colleagues or business partners who lack the same focus and commitment to success in business. In other words, whether you’re a man or woman, you have to be professional.

As things presently stand, it’s estimated that it will take 60 years for there to be equality in Britain’s boardrooms. Among entrepreneurs, twice as many men as women start their own business. Is this due to discrimination, a lack of ambition or lower expectations?

The idea of enforced quotas and positive discrimination isn’t a pleasant one, but it could compel companies which line up for meetings like a football team before a big match to realise that balance is a good thing.

Before introducing such a measure, it would be interesting to know how many women applied for top jobs and didn’t get them, or attempted to start a business but gave up after gentle pats on the head and comments about how ‘risky it is if you want to start a family’.

Misplaced ambition is frequently treated as a source of amusement in the UK, which has an outstandingly poor tradition of ensuring people know their place. If discrimination is at the heart of the gender imbalance, then it means that we aren’t choosing our best people from the widest pool of talent.

That is sad for the individuals who will feel unfulfilled and that something is missing from their lives. Over time, it could be catastrophic for the health and balance of the UK economy.