Women in senior management in business and public sector
28 June 2016
The Women and Equalities Committee questions business and public sector leaders on women in senior management, exploring the barriers which women face in reaching senior executive positions and identifying ways to improve the situation.
- Watch Parliament TV: Women in executive management
- Inquiry: Women in executive management
- Women and Equalities Committee
Witnesses
Tuesday 28 June 2016, Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
At 10.15am
- Fiona Cannon OBE, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Lloyds Banking Group
- Vivian Hunt, Director, McKinsey UK
- Helena Morrisey, Chief Executive Officer, Newton Investor Management, Founder, 30% Club
- Melanie Richards, Vice Chair and Board Member, KPMG UK LLP
At 11.15am
- Melanie Dawes, Civil Service Gender Champion and Permanent Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government
- Dr Penny Newman, Medical Director, Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust
- Sara Thornton, Chair, National Police Chiefs' Council
Women in executive management
While 94% of FTSE 350 companies now have at least one woman on the board, a report by the Cranfield School of Management finds that only 19.4% of Executive Committee members in the FTSE 100 are female.
This one-off evidence session builds on the Committee's recent work on this issue, exploring the barriers which women face in reaching senior executive positions and identifying ways to improve the situation.
Purpose of the evidence session
In the first panel the Committee hears from business leaders who have led a range of successful initiatives to improve gender balance in executive management positions. As well as successes, discussions also focus on actions which industry and the Government could take to improve the situation.
Topics include:
- What are the barriers which women face in reaching senior executive positions?
- How are business leaders are trying to increase the representation of women in senior roles within their own companies and beyond?
- Suggestions on a stretching yet pragmatic target for businesses and Government to increase the number of women in executive positions
The second panel focuses on the public sector, with evidence from women in senior management roles in the Civil Service, NHS and Police on initiatives to improve the representation of women in its senior layers.
Topics include:
- Challenges of increased female representation at senior levels within large complex multi layered organisations such as the Civil Service, Police and NHS
- Public sector equality duty
- Impact of Hay report
- Plans to end inequality in the public sector
Chair's comments
Committee Chair Maria Miller said:
"Women make up half the graduate intake in many major companies, but only 16% get through to the top executive director positions. Businesses are failing to respond to the changing shape of the UK labour market, and to get the best out of their female employees. This has to change.
Greater progress has been made in the public sector than in many businesses: in the Civil Service, 40% of senior posts now go to women. However, only 20% of Permanent Secretaries are female: clearly more needs to be done to achieve full equality."
Background
Hampton-Alexander review
In February 2016, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced that Sir Philip Hampton, Chair of GlaxoSmithKline will lead an independent review on increasing representation of women in the executive level of FTSE 350 companies. Dame Helen Alexander will be the Deputy Chair of the review.
The aims of the review are to:
- Consider options, make recommendations and work with the business community and others to improve the representation of women below the board in the senior layers of FTSE 350 companies.
- Champion work to continue improving the representation of women on FTSE 350 boards
The work of the review will take place throughout 2016 with a view to presenting recommendations by the end of 2016. Sir Philip said that the review would:
"Focus on improving representation in the executive layer of [FTSE 350] companies, as well as maintaining the momentum on boards. This means looking at the talent pipeline for female executives and emerging non-executive directors to ensure we create opportunities and the right conditions for women to succeed."
Further information
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