There has been much coverage this week of the sexist comments levelled against the Aviva CEO, Amanda Blanc, at their annual AGM.  Whilst we can all see the progress that is being made in achieving a more balanced gender representation in the Boardroom, there is still more to be done. According to the UK Government backed review by Hampton Alexander, 34% of FTSE 350 Board positions are held by women and that represents a 50% increase over a 5 year period.  However, there are still only 8 female CEOs in the FTSE100.

I work in an industry that is strongly female oriented and I have had some amazing female Bosses all the way through my career.  AMS was set up by Rosaleen Blair 26 years ago and she is now Chair of our global business with around 9,000 employees.  I have also worked with AMS clients over the last 8 years where prioritising gender diversity and inclusion has been a primary focus and I have seen significant progress.

So, why then are women still experiencing sexism in the Boardroom?  I can’t answer that I’m afraid, but what I do know is that we all have to collectively work harder to ensure that we continue to focus on gender parity and inclusion at all levels in every sector.  I hope that in time that these type of headlines won’t be printed, but for now we all have a role to play in speaking up and being amazing allies.

The sexist comments levelled at Aviva boss Amanda Blanc at the company’s annual shareholder meeting were both shocking and utterly unsurprising. Rare is the woman who has risen through the ranks in business without a few stories about feeling belittled or patronised, overlooked or excluded on account of her gender.

https://www.ft.com/content/452a9b13-26be-42c4-8ab8-64208c78d129