Women’s Business Council Report 2017

During my 1:1 tutorials I have been forwarded Women’s Business Council Report from 2017. This document influenced a lot of decisions I made upon characters and their stories for my e-book. Below I’m going to discuss in detail particular point and key data from the report, relevant to my project.

“The Women’s Business Council was set up in 2012 to advise the Government on how women’s contribution to economic growth could be optimised.”¹ In 2013 the council has presented to the government a 4 year plan in order to ‘offer more experience and apprenticeship opportunities for girls; encourage male leaders to sponsor promising female leaders on the future; promote good quality opportunities for older working women; and, showcase authentic leadership to nurture the talent pipeline.’² The plan is addressing ‘missing economic potential of women in every stage of their lives.’³ By pressuring MPs, The Women’s Business Council already have achieved a lot of improvements for women at work. For example, sine April 2017 companies are forced to declare their gender pay and bonus gap annually.⁴ By doing so, we can closely monitor the differences in payment received by female and male workers and companies can put more thought and effort into equalising said differences. This success was followed by creating new legislation that reflects workers needs, such as flexible working, affordable childcare, and shared parental leave.⁵ All of these changes contribute to improvements for women who have to manoeuvre between domestic responsibilities of their families and their employment. 

The council’s efforts also help with removing stigma about balance between domestic life and work, which is beneficial to all workers, regardless whether they have spouse and children or not. As Emer Timmons (Chief Marketing Officer and President of Strategic Sales at Brightstar) says, ‘Gender pay inequality isn’t just a societal issue – equality benefits us all, especially a company’s bottom line… By recognising that women should not, and will not, be discriminated against through their pay is an important and crucial step on the path towards a fairer UK.’⁶

As Dame Cilla Snowball (Chair of the council) states, ‘the pipeline of female talent is overflowing’, yet the statistics on gender pay and bonus gap, household responsibilities and access to full-time work do not reflect this.⁷ Moreover, a lot of women in the UK are still facing discrimination in workplace because of their gender. However, Women’s Business Council is hopeful for further improvements by lobbying the government and working closely with businesses in the UK.

The report has illustrated life stages of women’s working lives, highlighting three milestones in women’s professional journeys. Starting with ‘supporting the choices of girls and young women’ – emphasising the importance of representation of women in STEM industries, achieved by ‘positive intervention in career selection, and support for women working within STEM industries.’⁸

Second stage, Getting On, ensures that women move through the executive pipeline. Statistically,  women move slower on the career ladder, comparing to their male colleagues. By creating ‘gender equal approach to performance, recruitment and talent management’ the pipeline to all management levels will be more accessible for female employees.⁹

The last stage, Staying On, addresses older female workers and females who return to work after a career break. A lot of women who wish to return to work after a break (caused by pregnancy or other family responsibilities, health issues, etc.) face difficulties finding full-time positions adequate to their skills and experience.¹⁰ Women’s Business Council recognises this as a major problem for women’s financial independence in the later stages of their lives. 

Apart from the three milestones in women’s careers, the council also highlighted the importance of encouraging more women to become entrepreneurs and start their own businesses, and the importance of ‘galvanising men to promote workplace cultural change to foster equality.’¹¹ 

Women’s Business Council’s Champion Advocates and Action Groups, alongside business leaders and practitioners, developed free practical toolkits. The toolkits reflect goals of the council (mentioned in second paragraph) and ‘every toolkit has showcased exemplar initiatives from businesses trailblazing solutions to maximise the potential of women within and entering their organisations.’¹² These toolkits also exists as an example and inspiration for other businesses. With already designed and tested systems in place, other companies nationwide can start implementing these changes across their legislation and company cultures. The toolkits are:

• Staying On – The Age of Success (which ‘focuses on initiatives, personal stories and expert opinions from women who have returned and remained in work and what worked for them’)
• The Pipeline Effect: A toolkit for enabling gender parity beyond middle management (which  ‘provides a series of solutions and case studies to support women and businesses looking to tackle the ‘leaky pipeline’ of women’s talent and progression through an organisation’)
• Comeback (a magazine which ‘looks at some of the ways Barclays have tapped into an under-utilised talent base, through a series of inclusive, flexible HR initiatives alumni programmes, returned programmes, older and bolder apprenticeships’)
• Women Entrepreneurs: Developing collaborative ecosystems for success (Sponsored by Deloitte and produced by the Entrepreneur Action Group, this toolkit ‘makes recommendations for increasing the growth rate of women-owned businesses to achieve a scale where they are more likely to sustain longer-term success and subsequently make a bigger impact on the national economy’)
• Trailblazing Transparency: Mending the Gap (‘The Think, Act, Report, Trailblazing Transparency sets out some of the challenges, opportunities and innovative action businesses are taking to successfully tackle the Gender Pay Gap within their organisations’)
• Mending the Talent Gap (A toolkit produced by the Women’s Business Council, which ‘explores the imperative for businesses, women and the national economy to bridge the gap between men and women’s access to opportunity in the workplace’)¹³

Another important point covered by the report is how stereotypes are shaping young people’s career choices. Anne Lyons (President of the National Association of Head Teachers) says: 

“Role models from the word of work can have a big impact on children – they can help them see why the subjects they are studying matter. It also helps to tackle the stereotypes children have from young age which lead them to think that certain subjects and careers are not for them. […] We know that children from the age of five often stereotype the jobs people do according to their gender – and this is particularly the case in science. That is why we are keen to get more volunteers who work in science to volunteer an hour of their time to visit a local school and chat to young people about their job and career route.”¹⁴

Statistically, ‘number of girls taking maths A-Level increased by 11% from 2010 to 2016, and the number of girls taking physics A-level increased by 14% over the same six years. However, girls represented 36.7% of entrants to core STEM subjects.’¹⁵ At the same time, Professor Sir Adrian Smith ‘review of post-16 mathematics reported significant gaps between high performing girls and boy’s progression to AS/A level with only 50% of A graded GCSE girls continuing to AS/A level compared to 70% of boys in 2015-16.’¹⁶ This disproportionate numbers may be a result of current female representation in STEM industries, or rather lack of it. Highlighting female talent in STEM industries to generations of girls and young women can help them realise why they’re studying a particular subject, and in result new carer options, that previously have been scrutinised by the society and only viewed as appropriate for men.¹⁷

As mentioned before, many females face increased gender discrimination when returning to work after a career break. Interestingly, ‘the Gender Pay Gap (GPG) opens up when women have their first child. The GPG is just less than 7% for those aged 22-29, but the gap is 25% for those aged 40-49.’¹⁸ Because of lack of ‘dynamic and flexible ways of working’ it’s harder for companies to retain their female talent.¹⁹ And the big part of it is motherhood. Not only it’s harder for women to progress their careers as fast as their male peers,  but returning to work after becoming a mother has its consequences too. Another bleak statistic highlights that, ‘on returning to work, women earn around 2% less on average for every year spent out of paid work. The penalty is even worse for higher-qualified women who earn 4% less on average for each year they take out.’²⁰ Not only it’s harder to return to work as a female, but also by doing so women as penalised with lower salaries.

Lack of flexibility in workplace forces a lot of women to leave their jobs in order to take care of their families. This translates to another statistic, in which ’89% of those who are currently economically inactive because they are looking after their family or home are women.’²¹ To this day, women still take on more domestic responsibilities than their male partners, and one reason for it could be lack of understanding from employers about women’s lifestyles. The report highlights that, ‘it is vital to also address barriers to men’s engagement with caring responsibilities. Flexible working offers benefits for both men’s and women’s work life balance but workplace stigma around access to flexible working can place barriers to men reaping the full benefits of flexible initiatives.’ ²²

Because of gender inequalities in workplaces, and traditional female role in domestic life, men tend to experience lower insecurity about their jobs. ‘A survey of working mothers found that nearly one in five (18%) had been forced to leave a job because a flexible working request was turned down.’²³ Men’s lifestyles are more suitable for traditional working patterns and it is particularly visible within older workforce. Statistically, ‘as of 2016, approximately 120,000 women over the age of 55 were involuntarily working part-time because they could not find a full-time job, twice the number of men in the same age group.’²⁴ This is another reason why the council is pressing on employers to provide more flexible work, so not only men can benefit from it, but also so women have fair access to the same job opportunities as men.

Last, but not least, the report highlights importance of diverse boardrooms. As Sue Langley, OBE (Non-Executive chairman, Arthur J Gallagher UK and Getting On Action Group Co-Chair) summarise, ‘I’m a huge advocate of women in business and diversity in the boardroom. Not only because boards should be better representative of society, but also because a diversifies board has been proved to improve profitability.’²⁵ Diverse boardrooms can be achieved by improving access to senior level opportunities for women, which is not only beneficial for women in such companies, but it also contributes to development of better workplace for all. And businesses should look into this, because ‘companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians. Companies in the bottom quartile both for gender and for ethnicity and race are statistically less likely to achieve above average financial returns than the average companies in the data set.’²⁶ With this in mind, we can already see a positive change in many UK businesses. As Dame Cilla snowball states, ’increasingly, outdated working structures that are sexist, ageist and racist are no longer seen as fit for purpose in the modern working work.’²⁷

The 2017 report inspired me greatly to address some of the issues discussed by Women’s Business Council in my Final Major Project. The statistics and quotes provided in the report are useful for the Instagram content related to the e-book I’m creating. Not only the stories included in my work reflect the female perspective on employment and domestic life, but also the online content is there to inform and educate readers on the reality of it. By making this knowledge widely available (free Instagram content and downloadable e-book), I can contribute to paradigm shift within female workforce and general societal consensus on gender equality.

I personally did not know about existence of Women’s Business Council or even existence of Minister for Women. This knowledge is important for women, because it empowers us and reassures us that the government and other political institutions are working together to ensure brighter future for every female in the UK. 

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INDEX

1. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017. Women’s Business Council. November 2017, 11.
2. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 2.
3. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 1.
4. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 1.
5. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 1.
6. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 20.
7. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 1.
8. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 4.
9. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 4.
10. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 4.
11. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 4.
12. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 2.
13. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 12-13.
14. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 16.
15. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 15.
16. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 15.
17. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 16.
18. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 19.
19. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 18.
20. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 23.
21. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 23.
22. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 27.
23. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 19.
24. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 22.
25. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 17.
26. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 7.
27. Government Equalities Office. Maximising women’s contribution to future economic growth: women’s Business Council Progress Report 2017, 1.

All the images in this post are from the report.