Women in business - still a hot topic

There are still fewer women in top jobs today.

Last week at the 12^th Advertising Week in New York, the hub focused on the role and impact of women and wellness in the workplace. It seems people have the same reluctance and scepticism to mindfulness as they do to women in creative leadership roles. Women are still having a harder time breaking into creative roles and they often attribute their success at work to “good luck” rather than giving themselves the credit they deserve.

Our CD Penny wrote a blog piece in June that highlighted that women are struggling creatively. In 2012 just 3% of CDs were women, a shameful statistic that has only increased to 11% this year. With women making the majority of brand purchases (85%) it surely makes sense to have more women involved in the creative process. They have a different perspective on things and “the more varied the people are who come up with ideas, the more varied the ideas will be”.

The gender pay gap continues...

On top of low morale in job satisfaction, women are still not earning as much as their male counterparts. It’s surprising that 15 years into the 21^st century the gender pay gap still exists. But the results of BrandRepublic’s 2015 Salary Survey should in fact be a red flag for the industry.

Despite the marketing industry being perceived as “at the forefront of equality” the reality is quite the opposite.

An article in the Guardian last week stated that companies are also suffering financially due a lack of women on executive boards – we’re talking losses of £430bn suffering. Sean Farrell believes that like a world still addicted to fossil fuels, by not putting women in the driving seat (creatively speaking) we are not fully unlocking our growth potential.

So are we supporting the younger generation to make these changes with us?

Last week Mrs MoneyPenny – the FT’s financial advisor – discussed the need to encourage young girls to continue studying STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) stating that “eight out of 10 girls who get an A* in physics GCSE do not continue it to A-level”. According to Maths Action this is because society in general thinks it is OK for girls to be bad with numbers, however Mrs MoneyPenny believes we need to encourage girls early to have their interest and self-confidence in STEM subjects reinforced.

Teamspirit is proud to be working with the Close Brothers Apprenticeship Scheme which is helping to pay for 20 apprentices for local SMEs in Sheffield. It's great to see that one of these manufacturing apprentices is a young woman. She’s a very bright, driven 16 year old girl who despite getting As in her English GCSEs is determined to pursue an engineering apprenticeship rather than staying on at school.

This passion for engineering is something that Isis Wenger clearly has. Wenger started the hashtag #ILookLikeAnEngineer to break stereotypes about the industry. After clocking up more than 75,000 tweets and spreading to more than 50 countries, the hashtag raised the important issue of the prejudice faced by female engineers and people working in STEM more widely.

As seen in the Guardian, “Tackling gender inequality and boosting women’s opportunities in the labour market could add $12tn (£7.8tn) to annual global GDP over the next decade, according to new research.”  Not a figure to be humble about.