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Breaking through the glass ceiling
Across the business world, the face of the professional workforce is changing. After years of under-representation at all but the most junior levels, women are taking up a significant proportion of management positions and are even penetrating the boardrooms of major international companies.
TopMBA Careers Conference, London, Oct 2005
The chair of the 3i Group in the UK, for example is female, as are the CEOs of Thomson Intermedia and Pearson. Elsewhere in Europe the Publicis Groupe in France is chaired by Elisabeth Badinter, whilst Annika Bolin Falkengren in Sweden heads the board of Skandinaviska Erskilda Banken. In the USA, according to a survey by the research firm, Catalyst, 14.7% of Fortune 500 boards contained women directors in 2005, up from 13.6% in 2003. And, also in the USA, the National Association of Female Executives has recently named such high profile companies as IBM, Colgate-Palmolive, General Mills and Merck as examples of organisations where women are well-represented at the most senior levels of management.
In many sectors traditionally dominated by men, this turnaround seems to be coming about because of the increasing numbers of ambitious young women entering at graduate or new MBA level. Take for example the current situation in the investment banking industry. “In the past the perception that this was a 24/7 industry where only men could make the grade meant that a lot of women discounted it as a career option,” says Anneke de Boer of financial services giant, Morgan Stanley. “One of our biggest challenges is to change this perception so that more bright, ambitious women come though the ranks. Given the fact that there’s generally a relatively high attrition rate in investment banking, which is normally higher among women because of the decision to focus more on family, it’s the only way we are going to see more of them at very senior levels in the future.”
The role of business schools
Many of the top business schools are also playing their part in levelling the workplace playing field. Harvard, for example, has introduced a ‘mini-MBA’ specifically designed to refresh the skills of women professionals returning to work after taking time out to raise a family. Tuck School of Business in New Hampshire has developed a similar executive education programme to ease returners back into work, which covers such basics as finance, marketing and supply chain management, as well as sessions on career planning, improving a CV and interview technique. And at New York’s Stern School, Shelia Wellington, Clinical Professor of Management, is teaching what has been described as a ‘pre-emptive’ course called Women in Business Leadership, which aims to help women plan their careers effectively and in particular to work out how and when to take time out for a family. “If women want to take time out, they have to have a plan and be strategic,” says Professor Wellington.
"With the success of the 2006 programme, QS is now planning to roll out its events to other continents in the 2007 season, with New York and Singapore the likely first venues outside Europe."
To help sustain the momentum that organisations like Morgan Stanley have already created, the careers and education group, QS, has developed its Women in Leadership programme, which is now in its fourth year. The programme encompasses full day events, which allow a selected audience of young women professionals to meet with leading employers, take part in seminars and panel debates and work with high-profile life and career coaches. “The events are all about inspiring the next generation of business leaders to fulfil their true potential,” says Carole Brennan, the director of the Leadership programme, which also addresses the wider diversity issue.
“Events like this really help to show there are many companies that are genuinely committed to recruiting and retaining the best talent, irrespective of its gender or ethnic background,” says Catherine Brontin, one of the young professionals, who attended the programme’s event in Paris. “I came away with new energy and a belief that I really can make it to the very top of my field if I am willing to apply myself fully and choose an employer who will give me the support I need on the way up the ladder.”
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