Within reach of the glass ceiling

More women are in senior positions, but they need networks to reach the very top in public policy

By Liz St Clair

With the Equality Bill making its way through Parliament, there seem to be endless column inches and media coverage about the lack of women in top positions in Britain.  Few serve on corporate boards – 12 per cent of FTSE 100 directorships are held by women, a mere 20 per cent of elected Members of Parliament are women, and women hold about a third of public appointments.

However, the reality is that there are a great many women throughout the country in decision making roles.  The generations of women to have benefited from the expansion in university places since the 80s are now reaching senior positions across all sectors.  Some have made it all the way to the top and there are vast numbers of women nearly there.  They are qualified and keen to fulfil their ambitions.  Structural barriers such as rigid working hours are gradually reducing and women’s networks are bringing women together industry by industry.

What has been missing is the cross-fertilisation of the networks.  Supported by corporations and organisations, women’s networks tend to have been established within sectors so, for example, women in science and technology network with other women in the same field.  The same is true of women in manual trades, or law, or local government.  Then there is the political divide whereby most women campaigners and political activists are restrained by party loyalty. 

In January 2007, Eileen MacGowan (now at the Institute for Public Policy Research) and Marjorie Ellis Thompson (now at C-3i) decided to do something about it.   They brought together like-minded volunteers and with the backing of Neil Stewart, they established Women in Public Policy (WiPP).  The objective is to bring together women decision makers to network and influence public policy – and each other.  WiPP members come from across the political spectrum and across private, public and charitable sectors – ranging from central government departments, regulatory bodies, the police, health sector, educational institutions, local government, the legal profession, charities and private sector organisations. Geographically members are spread around the country – from Devon to Merseyside- although most events take place in London.  There are 4 co-chairmen:  Baroness Liz Symons (Labour), Baroness Trish Morris (Conservative), Baroness Ros Scott (Liberal) and Lynne Berry OBE (CEO, WRVS) who take turns to chair WiPP events. 

Because members come from different sectors the networking has an added dimension.  For example, the majority of women have policy backgrounds but they gained new insights about presenting themselves and their research findings from members working in corporate marketing and publicity.  Very few had applied commercial branding techniques to either themselves or the way they presented their work.   WiPP held a central London seminar on branding at Interbrand in the Strand.  Although physically only the other side of Trafalgar Square, for the “Westminster” and “Whitehall” women the approach to the presentation and ownership of identity was a world away.  Knowledge gains were made all round.

Another example is in the public appointments arena.  An oft-heard complaint is that there are not enough qualified women to take up the posts. In addition, many of those who do qualify deselect themselves by putting additional barriers in the way, such as “I meet only 80 per cent of the criteria”,  “I wasn’t born/educated in the UK so I won’t understand the unwritten rules of the game”, or “They only want people with boardroom/corporate backgrounds”.  WiPP decided to tackle both sides of the debate by holding a practical workshop.  The Government Equalities Office sponsored the venue and WiPP brought the delegates.  Panel speakers came from the Appointments Commission itself (Andrea Sutcliffe), headhunters Odgers Berndtson (Julia Oliver), Government Equalities Office (Tracey Boscott), and WiPP co-chair & charity CEO (Lynne Berry).  The practical session was run by DiPA (Shaama Saggar-Malik). 

The delegates came from a broad range of professional backgrounds which led to a good number of diverse issues being raised.  Many of the myths - especially those about the secrecy of the process - were de-bunked.  Several WiPP members have now made applications for public appointments; others have registered with the headhunter and/or the performance coach.  A few have already been appointed to public boards. 

What all this proves is that there are enough women, with the right experience and qualifications, with ambition to serve at the most senior levels.   By getting together to share their different perspectives and knowledge, women make gains.  They no longer have to be the only (often lonely) woman at the top.

To find out more about this article, visit: www.womeninpublicpolicy.org

19 January 2010

Liz St Clair. Executive Director of WiPP,