Finance Monthly August 2019 Edition

37 www.finance-monthly.com WOMEN IN FINANCE - HOW CAN WOMEN STEP UP & STAND OUT he struggle to reach the top, to penetrate the Glass Ceiling continues today. There are still not enough women sitting around the major decision-making tables. On the one hand, we want to celebrate that 1% increase but on the other, it begs the question as to why there is still such a strong resistance to having women in senior positions and keeping them there? Mary Beard, in her powerful book Women & Power: A Manifesto, refers to a dark historical tradition of keeping women silent; from Homer to Trump. This ingrained resentment of women speaking up exists across the world in almost all societies. From the significant disparity in the gender pay gap to the continuing abuse highlighted by the #MeToo movement. How can talented and ambitious women step up and stand out without experiencing rejection, loneliness and punishment? For a woman (of any age) entering the corporate world - what must she do to be recognised, acknowledged and rewarded? It still seems to be a game of one step forward and two steps back. But this is not a situation confined to the business world. I have experienced many discriminatory situations in the entertainment industry and the arts too. And I am sure many women reading this will be nodding their heads in agreement. Suggestions and good advice abound. From Mary Portas’ book, Work Like A Woman to the short and brilliant We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche and, indeed, my own book, The Rule Breakers Guide (To Step Up & Stand Out). I am reminded of the Riana Duncan cartoon, from Punch magazine, illustrating this imprinted ‘deafness’ in her famous ‘Miss Triggs’ cartoon: T 1% Increase in the number of women reaching senior positions in FTSE 100 companies 33% The target number of women reaching senior positions in FTSE 100 companies by 2020 “ That’s an excellent suggestion, Miss Triggs. Perhaps one of the men here would like to make it. ”