索尔福德大学商学院 marks International Women’s Day with roundtable of inspiring Greater Manchester women.
为纪念2023年国际妇女节， 索尔福德大学商学院 welcomed inspiring women from the Greater Manchester business community to a roundtable conversation to tackle this year’s theme – embrace equity. The roundtable debated how far barriers faced by women in the workplace have been broken down.
由Claire-Marie Boggiano主持, 总监兼教练, 领导力与变革, participants told stories about their own lived experience of the barriers they’ve faced throughout their careers. They also shared their thoughts on what they believe business leaders and policymakers need to do to fully embrace equity.
虽然在过去的48年里在一些措施上取得了相当大的进展, since 1975 when the UN officially recognised the 8 March as International Women’s Day, 对于在职女性和有工作的父母来说，目前的形势仍然充满挑战. Recent data from Pregnant Then Screwed revealed three-in-four mothers (76%) who pay for childcare, 说他们工作不再有经济上的意义[1]. 除了, while the latest FTSE Women Leaders Review revealed women now make up 40% of FTSE 350 boards[ii], 按照目前的轨迹，只有三分之一的人担任领导职务, 预计平均分配大约需要70年[iii].
女性在工作场所继续面临的障碍
在圆桌会议上, Ayesha Chowdhury博士, 法律讲师, 索尔福德商学院分享了她平衡事业和家庭生活的经历. She said: “The prime time to raise a family coincides with important career milestones and in my case, 完成博士学位. At just 35 I was classed as a high-risk ‘geriatric mother’ and there’s little support in place for those managing being the matriarch of their family, 在努力发展专业的同时. 我们应该关注如何让更多的女性进入职场, 不设置让生活更困难的障碍.
“我对任何想要进步/刚开始职业生涯的人的建议, 是在他们计划未来时知道他们的优先事项吗. 我们经常计划职业方面，却忘记了个人的优先事项. 女性也需要停止仅仅因为身为女人或母亲而道歉. When we do this, we bring ourselves down unconsciously, but we really need to be doing the opposite.”
Claire-Marie continued: “We fare the worst in the developed world when it comes to cost of childcare and then to add to this, 当我们50多岁的时候, 我们在更年期面临着另一个巨大的障碍. 除了应对更年期的影响，我们还要应付很多事情, 主要是照顾年迈的父母, 家里仍有十几岁的孩子，还要操持家务, on top of navigating the world of work which really isn’t set up for us to operate successfully. 难怪50多岁的女性成群结队地离开职场, 因为这是一个无法控制的情况.”
丽贝卡·柯林斯, 董事总经理, 组织设计顾问和执行教练, 教堂会所培训及顾问, 索尔福德商学院名誉行业研究员, said: “The fact there’s a strategy in place to entice older women back into the workplace showcases we’ve really not come a long way. What we are also seeing is women harnessing their entrepreneurial skills and circumventing those organisational barriers by creating their own spaces and setting up their own companies, as they just couldn’t get to where they wanted to and into those board level positions they deserve in the corporate world. 另一个可悲的现实是，在很多情况下, 女人可能成为其他女人的障碍, 有时会忘记他们曾经面临的困难. They are able to affect meaningful change or sometimes take the attitude that because they had to fight tooth for their success, 下一代职场女性也应该如此.”
莉斯学, 副院长, 索尔福德商学院, “作为一个女儿的母亲, 性别收入差距继续存在的事实令人尴尬. It’s also impossible for many women to come back to the workplace due to the sheer fact they simply cannot afford to without cost-effective childcare.”
凯特·帕尔默, 人力资源咨询和咨询总监, 半岛, 索尔福德商学院名誉行业研究员 added: “Upon doing the Myers-Briggs personality test, 我最主要的颜色是绿色，这是典型的外交和关怀. 当我这样做的时候，它被皱眉，虽然这看起来不那么强大. 有一种观念认为女人是毛茸茸的，但我们不是. 女性是坚强的，认为我们软弱的观点需要改变, 即使我们的性格类型更关心他人，而不是暴躁和好胜.”
采取行动打破障碍，拥抱公平
更糟糕的是, the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill is rapidly progressing through Parliament and proposes the removal of 4,与就业有关的法律. 其中许多法律保护工作场所的女性, 例如, 同工同酬, 保护产妇和怀孕不受歧视, 带薪产假和育儿假, as well as protection against unfair treatment such as unfair dismissal or being overlooked for promotion while on leave. 虽然这一提议的变化的影响尚不清楚, 人们高度期待这一结果将使女性的工作更具挑战性.
弗朗辛·莫里斯博士，企业学院副院长 & 订婚, 索尔福德商学院, said: “It’s worrying that to this day the gender pay gap actually fluctuates around what men are doing. 例如, 当男性收入下降或更多男性离开劳动力市场时, 性别收入差距开始缩小. Then there’s the pension gap - when we temporarily leave the labour market for caring reasons, we experience a gap in our pension contributions; meaning we’re more likely to struggle with financial instability later in life than men.
“We need more women on boards and not just in advisory board member positions – in leadership roles, 所以他们有真正的发言权，可以推动真正的变革. Government policymakers should be implementing a minimum quota for women in leadership roles on boards, 然后我们就会看到真正的进步.”
路易丝大厅, 法律讲师(实务), 律师和丝克斯领导, 索尔福德商学院, 她补充道:“除了教会我们的女儿使用她们的声音, 我们也有必要教育我们的儿子. The next generation gives me hope as they’re not afraid to speak up for what they believe in. They won’t stand for tokenism and that’s the level of appetite for change we need in the world.”
凯西·哈特利博士, 人事管理讲师, 索尔福德商学院, continued: “How we structure organisations and that organisational design piece needs to be addressed by some workplaces. 它们通常是围绕传统的, 男性有等级制度的工作方式，而很多女性喜欢以不同的方式工作. 是女性的, we have different experiences and we can bring a lot to the workplace from other areas of our lives. 我们的许多技能都是可转移的，但这并不总是受到重视, as it doesn’t necessarily fit into traditional ways of operating or career frameworks used by organisations, 我认为这需要改变.”
玛丽Fashanu, 敏捷交付经理, 和, 和企业家, 评论道:“如果一家公司想要改善平等, diversity and inclusion they need to be doing it at board level and there should be a woman leading that conversation, 不是别人替我们说话. 越来越多的人直言不讳，不接受，这给了我对未来的希望.”
Kate continued: “Something that’s always resonated with me is that I believe women can have it all. 也许不是所有的事情都是完美的，但我们可以. 在拥有家庭的同时，我们可以在事业上取得进步和成功. 但是有些事情, 比如每天去学校接孩子, 可能会下滑，重要的是我们不要因此对自己太苛刻.”
Rebecca concluded: “A lot of organisations are re-evaluating the world of work and while it’s slow to yield results, leaders need to start thinking differently and holistically to see the change we all want and need.”
索尔福德商学院的更多信息，请访问: www.索尔福德.ac.英国/新闻.
