smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

More than half of small business owners believe a glass ceiling for women continues to exist in the workplace, finds research by business software company Sage.

According to the latest Omnibus study, which draws on Sage’s 800,000-strong customer base, 18 per cent of respondents consider the main difference between women and men in business to be that women tend to be more strategic, compared with only 1.6 per cent of respondents identifying men as more strategic.

More than a third (35 per cent) consider women to be more empathetic in business than their male colleagues, while one in five respondents (22 per cent) think the main difference between men and women is that women tend to be more aggressive in their dealings with colleagues, with only 12 per cent believing men are more aggressive.

The research reveals significant discrepancies in the number of women that head up businesses in different areas of the UK. Scotland leads the way with 30 per cent of businesses led by a woman, while the North East lags behind with more than 90 per cent of businesses polled led by a man.

In terms of business priorities, both men and women are primarily concerned about the performance of their business and the wider economy, but achieving a good work-life balance is more important among female business owners (20 per cent) than their male counterparts (14 per cent).

In February, Business Secretary Vince Cable and Home Secretary Theresa May called for FTSE 350 companies to set goals for increasing the number of women in the boardroom by September 2011.

Adrienne Mcfarland, HR director of Sage UK says, ‘It is positive that the government is looking to address inequality in the boardroom head-on, but it appears that the recommended quotas have failed to make the desired impact in FTSE 350 firms.

‘It may be time to consider different approaches to increase female representation at the top of the UK’s listed companies, through training or mentoring programmes for instance, in order to address this key issue.’

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