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| Too few women at the top means we are all losing out | Too few women at the top means we are all losing out |
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| You can tell how few women there still are at the top of public service because they all get compared to one another. David Cameron was never described as a second John Major just because they both have balls, and it should be equally laughable to describe Theresa May as a second Margaret Thatcher. | You can tell how few women there still are at the top of public service because they all get compared to one another. David Cameron was never described as a second John Major just because they both have balls, and it should be equally laughable to describe Theresa May as a second Margaret Thatcher. |
| But there is one way in which the two women are similar and have much in common with other senior female leaders: both have been sent in to clean up the mess created by men. Thatcher became prime minister in May 1979, following the winter of discontent, when Britain was beset by strikes, while May has an unenviable to-do list, which includes negotiating the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. | But there is one way in which the two women are similar and have much in common with other senior female leaders: both have been sent in to clean up the mess created by men. Thatcher became prime minister in May 1979, following the winter of discontent, when Britain was beset by strikes, while May has an unenviable to-do list, which includes negotiating the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. |
| This phenomenon, of women getting to the top in failing organisations, was first noted by Michelle Ryan, professor of social and organisational psychology at the University of Exeter. She coined the term “glass cliff” after finding that in the private sector – where only a quarter of FTSE 100 directors are women – they often only broke through the glass ceiling when a company was on the verge of failing. The impact is profound: it means women are taking on tougher jobs and are more likely to fail – but Ryan also found that it deters other women. In other words, as we all know anecdotally, you really do have to be twice as tough as a bloke to succeed. | This phenomenon, of women getting to the top in failing organisations, was first noted by Michelle Ryan, professor of social and organisational psychology at the University of Exeter. She coined the term “glass cliff” after finding that in the private sector – where only a quarter of FTSE 100 directors are women – they often only broke through the glass ceiling when a company was on the verge of failing. The impact is profound: it means women are taking on tougher jobs and are more likely to fail – but Ryan also found that it deters other women. In other words, as we all know anecdotally, you really do have to be twice as tough as a bloke to succeed. |
| Right now, there are hundreds – if not thousands – of female leaders in UK public services, doing a great job in local councils, the NHS, the police, the justice system, the civil service and charities. But they are not breaking through in anything like the numbers necessary to scale that glass cliff. A woman is more likely to be a reliable deputy chief executive, a head of department, or a director general, than to make it to the very top. | Right now, there are hundreds – if not thousands – of female leaders in UK public services, doing a great job in local councils, the NHS, the police, the justice system, the civil service and charities. But they are not breaking through in anything like the numbers necessary to scale that glass cliff. A woman is more likely to be a reliable deputy chief executive, a head of department, or a director general, than to make it to the very top. |
| And with good reason. Dame Helen Ghosh, director general of the National Trust and former permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who was once tipped to become the first female cabinet secretary, recently told Civil Service World that she felt part of her job was “to show other women that being a permanent secretary is an enjoyable thing to do, and I sometimes wonder whether some women looked up to us and thought ‘blimey, do they look as though they are enjoying it?’ I wonder whether some of the women who were in that pipeline just looked at us and thought … ‘perhaps I’ll go and do something more enjoyable instead’.” | And with good reason. Dame Helen Ghosh, director general of the National Trust and former permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who was once tipped to become the first female cabinet secretary, recently told Civil Service World that she felt part of her job was “to show other women that being a permanent secretary is an enjoyable thing to do, and I sometimes wonder whether some women looked up to us and thought ‘blimey, do they look as though they are enjoying it?’ I wonder whether some of the women who were in that pipeline just looked at us and thought … ‘perhaps I’ll go and do something more enjoyable instead’.” |
| As Rick Zednik, the new (male) chief executive of Women in Parliaments, the independent organisation that campaigns for more female politicians, has recently pointed out, it’s time to start counting the cost of not having more women in public posts. Without gender equality in our government and public services, we are all losing out. Research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows that countries with a larger number of women as ministers or in parliament tend to have lower levels of inequality, more confidence in government and higher spending on health. | As Rick Zednik, the new (male) chief executive of Women in Parliaments, the independent organisation that campaigns for more female politicians, has recently pointed out, it’s time to start counting the cost of not having more women in public posts. Without gender equality in our government and public services, we are all losing out. Research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows that countries with a larger number of women as ministers or in parliament tend to have lower levels of inequality, more confidence in government and higher spending on health. |
| This has been acknowledged across almost all areas of public service in the UK, but there’s still little sign of progress. Only a quarter of UK local authority chief executives and just 14.6% of English council leaders are women – half the proportion of female MPs (29%). Rather than improving, this figure has declined from a peak of 16% eight years ago. | This has been acknowledged across almost all areas of public service in the UK, but there’s still little sign of progress. Only a quarter of UK local authority chief executives and just 14.6% of English council leaders are women – half the proportion of female MPs (29%). Rather than improving, this figure has declined from a peak of 16% eight years ago. |
| In the voluntary sector and the NHS, the situation is better: 30% of the leaders of the UK’s 50 biggest charities and 42% of chief executives in NHS England are women. But Chris Lake, head of professional development at the NHS Leadership Academy, points out, that is still well short of representing the 77% of the NHS workforce who are women. | In the voluntary sector and the NHS, the situation is better: 30% of the leaders of the UK’s 50 biggest charities and 42% of chief executives in NHS England are women. But Chris Lake, head of professional development at the NHS Leadership Academy, points out, that is still well short of representing the 77% of the NHS workforce who are women. |
| And since Ghosh left Defra, of 17 Whitehall service departments only three have female permanent secretaries, a significant decline from 2011 when there was an equal split between men and women in the top job. | And since Ghosh left Defra, of 17 Whitehall service departments only three have female permanent secretaries, a significant decline from 2011 when there was an equal split between men and women in the top job. |
| It remains to be seen whether a prime minister who co-founded Women2Win, to promote more female politicians within the Conservative party, will follow through and support policies to get more women in the highest public, private and voluntary sector roles. Given that only eight of the 23 members of her cabinet are women, it looks like there’s still some way to go. | It remains to be seen whether a prime minister who co-founded Women2Win, to promote more female politicians within the Conservative party, will follow through and support policies to get more women in the highest public, private and voluntary sector roles. Given that only eight of the 23 members of her cabinet are women, it looks like there’s still some way to go. |