Analysis of Experian’s National Business Database for the Female Directors Report 2007 has found that, for the first time, the number of female directorships in Britain has broken through the one million mark (1,008,343) and well over one quarter (28%) of directors in the UK are now female. So, is that glass ceiling beginning to show some long overdue cracks at last?
While the breaking of the one million mark is a most welcome statistic, a glance at Experian’s findings reveals that things are still far from fair for a significant proportion of the working population. Why am I not surprised that, in terms of the ratio of female/male directorships, engineering languishes near the bottom of a list of thirty industrial and commercial sectors?
Those ‘male dominated’ sectors of engineering, heavy industrials and construction remain just that – male dominated. For example, only one-in-eight directors employed within the mining sector happens to be a woman, whereas in the retail sector, it’s a very different story as the numbers approach parity.
There may be historical reasons for such statistical divergence, but these days surely no practical reason why a woman should not bring her expertise to bear for the good of a civil engineering firm as a high street retail chain.
Erika Watson, CEO of Prowess, the UK voice for women’s enterprise welcomes the rise in numbers of female directorships, but believes that too many companies are still missing out on the impact diverse leadership can have on their bottom line.
Perhaps she has an axe to grind, but do we in the male-dominated engineering sector dare refute her assertion that women bring as much innovation to the party as their male counterparts and, further, that their more collaborative management style has a more positive impact on the business? Send us your views.
Les Hunt