Average FTSE 100 chief exec is a 54 year old man with a background in finance May 19, 2015 A background in finance is likely to boost your chances at becoming the boss of one of the UK’s largest companies, according to new research published today by recruiters Robert Half. The dominant background for a FTSE 100 chief exec remains finance, with 52 per cent having a financial background, compared to 21 per cent [...]
PwC research finds women over 55 are best suited for leadership May 17, 2015 Businesses should be appointing more women aged over 55 to leadership roles, according to research from accounting giant PwC. The company found that only eight per cent of business leaders currently have the best capabilities for their roles, in a survey of 6,000 European professionals’ leadership capabilities, carried out by psychometric specialists Harthill Consulting. PwC’s [...]
The end of male, pale and stale politics? The new women in Westminster after David Cameron’s cabinet reshuffle May 11, 2015 Throughout most of modern British history, female MPs have numbered few and far between. Women took up less than 10 per cent of the seats in the House of Commons until as recently as the mid-1990s, when, alongside Tony Blair’s landslide victory in 1997, the percentage of female Labour MPs shot up by a staggering 173 [...]
If you’re a woman, experience doesn’t seem to count for much – a man is still more likely to win the top job May 7, 2015 Women's struggle to be taken as seriously as men at work appears to be far from over. It turns out that even with more leadership experience than their male competitors, they're still likely to be overlooked for the top jobs. This is the conclusion a group of researchers at the University of Kent came [...]
IMF boss Christine Lagarde: The world needs more women with top jobs in finance May 6, 2015 The bad culture in banking is still not fixed, and more women at the top of the industry could help, International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde said yesterday. “Several studies have shown that female leadership is more inclusive,” she told an audience in Washington DC. “You may be familiar with a question I have posed in the [...]
Chuka Umunna says corporate boardrooms need more diversity April 20, 2015 Chuka Umunna would aim for Britain’s boardrooms to have at least 14 per cent BME members if Labour win the General Election, “We have got to go further and look at not just gender diversity but ethnic diversity in British business leadership,” the shadow business secretary told the Evening Standard yesterday. Over half of the UK’s [...]
Gender equality has become an election issue – but progress remains painfully slow April 20, 2015 Gender equality has been highlighted as an important electoral issue in the political manifestos. All of the main parties want to see better conditions at work for women and they welcomed progress on female representation on boards – vouching to do more, though shying away from embracing quotas. But what is holding women back when [...]
Japan Inc remains a man’s world – but that might finally be changing April 15, 2015 Learners of Japanese soon run into the phrase “shou ga nai”. Roughly translated as “it can’t be helped”, it neatly sums up a fatalistic philosophy in tune with a nation beset by earthquakes, tsunami, volcanoes and typhoons. Until recently, Japan’s record on gender equality also fell into the “shou ga nai” category. Even with a [...]
Top companies now firing fewer chief executives as share of female bosses edges up April 13, 2015 The biggest firms in the world are opting to plan for their bosses’ successions rather than firing them in a panic, a new report has claimed. According to research from PwC consultancy Strategy&, when firms perform poorly and fire the chief executive, the uncertainty unleashed by the change at the top can lead to a [...]
Investment bankers lead City workers in favouring diversity April 12, 2015 Investment banking staff are the most convinced of all City workers of the benefits of workplace diversity. Workplace diversity was rated as important or very important by 59 per cent of investment bankers, according to survey figures released today by recruiters Astbury Marsden. “Investment banks pride themselves on being fiercely meritocratic – they will take [...]