Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

‘Mankind’s future depends on the talents of women’

by PENNY MORDAUNT

THINK back to when you last hired a car. When you went to pick it up from the lease company, what did you do? Women, I find, tend to check the location and function of the lights, find out where the horn is, work out how to tune the radio, double check the


fuel level and find out which side the petrol cap is on. They adjust the seat and check any accompanying passengers are comfortable.

What do men do? They tend to put the seatbelt on and just drive.

I am generalising, but women and men do think differently. And consequentially making sure women are in the top jobs in Britain’s biggest companies is an issue which has real practical implications beyond the evident issues of fairness and justice.

If we want our organisations or projects to succeed, we had better include women. If we do not then they won’t thrive. We have heard much about the gender pay gap in recent months.

We’ve heard some things about the phenomena that sit behind it – career choices made by young girls; unconscious bias in selection and promotion; the practical challenges and sacrifices made to care for another, and the propensity of women to assume that responsibility; good old-fashioned discrimination and more.

We have heard a little bit about how to tackle those challenges, but we’ve heard practically nothing about why it matters.

Why should we be worried about a lack of diversity in our institutions and organisations? What harm is done if we fail to include different perspectives and ideas?

When companies include more women and have better gender diversity, they are more likely to enjoy profits above their industry averages. Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 per cent more likely to enjoy profits above their industry

averages.

Work by McKinsey estimates that bridging gender gaps in employment could add £150 billion to the UK economy by 2025.

When women are part of peace negotiations, the resulting treaties are a third more likely to last at least 15 years.

Once solely male organisations that have now opened their ranks to women have become substantially more operationally effective. Every human endeavour depends upon inclusion,

and the fortunes of mankind depend on the talents of womankind.

So it matters to us all that nearly eight out of 10 big UK employers pay men more than they pay women, and only a quarter of FTSE 350 board positions are occupied by women.

Given the challenges facing us in 2018, I don’t think we can wait for gender equality in business leadership until 2043, or even later.

The World Economic Forum predicts it could take more than two centuries to close the global gender pay gap. We need women’s ideas, voices, perspectives, empathy, communication skills, talents and leadership applied to those challenges right now.

Britain has led the world by being the first country to require all businesses with 250 or more employees to publish their gender pay gaps. And people from all sectors are showing leadership to close that gap, many of them men.

Last week I spoke to business leaders from across the country at an event at St James’ Palace in London, hosted by the Duke of York, and organised by the government-backed Women’s Business Council.

As part of their Men As Change Agents initiative, men at the very top of business were invited to champion this agenda, ensure at least a third of their executive-level leaders are women, to sponsor at least one woman within their organisation, and be a change agent encouraging others to achieve better gender balance in business leadership.

These men get it. They understand why this agenda is about an environment in which their

partners, daughters, sisters, and mothers can reach their full potential. And they understand that it is also about every sector, community and our nation being fit for purpose and the best it can be. They understand that it is both right and smart.

Some of our biggest UK companies like Barclays, BT, Deloitte and Sky have already taken action, showing that gender equality is not just a moral imperative, it is good business. I hope others will join them. We need to change the workplace culture and promote shared parental leave – encouraging fathers to take their share, and take action so our businesses and services reflect our nation.

It is in all our interests that this is so. The world, all of us, will benefit when this happens.

Penny Mordaunt is the secretary of state for international development and minister for women and equalities.

More For You

Amol Rajan confronts loss along the Ganges

Amol Rajan at Prayagraj

Amol Rajan confronts loss along the Ganges

ONE reason I watched the BBC documentary Amol Rajan Goes to the Ganges with particular interest was because I have been wondering what to do with the ashes of my uncle, who died in August last year. His funeral, like that of his wife, was half Christian and half Hindu, as he had wished. But he left no instructions about his ashes.

Sooner or later, this is a question that every Hindu family in the UK will have to face, since it has been more than half a century since the first generation of Indian immigrants began arriving in this country. Amol admits he found it difficult to cope with the loss of his father, who died aged 76 three years ago. His ashes were scattered in the Thames.

Keep ReadingShow less
One year on, Starmer still has no story — but plenty of regrets

Sir Keir Starmer

Getty Images

One year on, Starmer still has no story — but plenty of regrets

Do not expect any parties in Downing Street to celebrate the government’s first birthday on Friday (4). After a rocky year, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer had more than a few regrets when giving interviews about his first year in office.

He explained that he chose the wrong chief of staff. That his opening economic narrative was too gloomy. That choosing the winter fuel allowance as a symbol of fiscal responsibility backfired. Starmer ‘deeply regretted’ the speech he gave to launch his immigration white paper, from which only the phrase ‘island of strangers’ cut through. Can any previous political leader have been quite so self-critical of their own record in real time?

Keep ReadingShow less
starmer-bangladesh-migration
Sir Keir Starmer
Getty Images

Comment: Can Starmer turn Windrush promises into policy?

Anniversaries can catalyse action. The government appointed the first Windrush Commissioner last week, shortly before Windrush Day, this year marking the 77th anniversary of the ship’s arrival in Britain.

The Windrush generation came to Britain believing what the law said – that they were British subjects, with equal rights in the mother country. But they were to discover a different reality – not just in the 1950s, but in this century too. It is five years since Wendy Williams proposed this external oversight in her review of the lessons of the Windrush scandal. The delay has damaged confidence in the compensation scheme. Williams’ proposal had been for a broader Migrants Commissioner role, since the change needed in Home Office culture went beyond the treatment of the Windrush generation itself.

Keep ReadingShow less
Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment

Ed Sheeran and Arijit Singh

Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment

Ed Sheeran and Arijit Singh’s ‘Sapphire’ collaboration misses the mark

The song everyone is talking about this month is Sapphire – Ed Sheeran’s collaboration with Arijit Singh. But instead of a true duet, Arijit takes more of a backing role to the British pop superstar, which is a shame, considering he is the most followed artist on Spotify. The Indian superstar deserved a stronger presence on the otherwise catchy track. On the positive side, Sapphire may inspire more international artists to incorporate Indian elements into their music. But going forward, any major Indian names involved in global collaborations should insist on equal billing, rather than letting western stars ride on their popularity.

  Ed Sheeran and Arijit Singh

Keep ReadingShow less
If ayatollahs fall, who will run Teheran next?

Portraits of Iranian military generals and nuclear scientists, killed in Israel’s last Friday (13) attack, are seen above a road, as heavy smoke rises from an oil refinery in southern Teheran hit in an overnight Israeli strike last Sunday (15)

If ayatollahs fall, who will run Teheran next?

THERE is one question to which none of us has the answer: if the ayatollahs are toppled, who will take over in Teheran?

I am surprised that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, has lasted as long as he has. He is 86, and would achieve immortality as a “martyr” in the eyes of regime supporters if the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, succeeded in assassinating him. This was apparently Netanyahu’s plan, though he was apparently dissuaded by US president Donald Trump from going ahead with the killing.

Keep ReadingShow less