Higher Education: The Gender Neutral Myth

Abstract

More women in senior appointments are important because without a substantial number (some commentators argue at least 30 per cent) women at this level will always seem unusual, odd and strange (McGregor, 2011). This means that women will invariably be remembered for what they are wearing, what they are saying and how they are behaving because of their identity as women, not because of their position. In addition, as the presence of women in numbers is essential for attracting more women to similar roles, ‘critical mass’ (Kramer et al., 2006) is relevant, although Ely maintains it is women in senior roles that is most critical (Ely, 1995). Bagley, Head of People at Price Waterhouse Coopers, one of three women on a board of 12 executive directors, considers that boosting women within senior levels in an organisation is a key goal because just now only 15 per cent of partners are women despite women making up half of its UK workforce of 10,000 employees. Bagley, also a member of the Opportunity Now advisory board responsible for the 2014 survey of workplace experiences and ambitions of women aged between 28 and 40, comments in the survey press release: We know women are confident and ambitious, but they have different goals to men. Until these goals are recognised as different, but valued equally with male priorities, workplaces will continue to disappoint and disillusion all but the most tenacious of women. To make real progress in supporting women’s careers, we need workplaces and a society that value women’s differences and support these aims. This means getting the basics, such as how people are assessed and rewarded at work, right.