What would more women bring to the table?

The Fawcett Society recently hosted a debate called “Power in Crisis – what would more women bring to the table?”  India Thorogood went along to listen.   

The panel consistes of three women, successful in politics, media and business, which the Fawcett Society believes are in crisis: Caroline Lucas, the UK’s sole Green MP; Mary Riddell of the Daily Telegraph and Dr Ruth Sealy, a former business woman, business psychology consultant and now, lead researcher of the Female FTSE Report.

Encouragingly, the organisation has to change venue to make tickets available to more people,  the theatre is packed full and I perch on the stairs.

First, Fawcett takes on Westminster, where currently women make up a mere 22 per cent of MPs. To add to this, it believes the next election could see a decrease in this number, as constituency boundaries are re-drawn.

Lucas is insightful on female representation in UK politics, as she is able to draw on personal experience. The MP notes that in her day-to-day life it is ‘very noticeable’ that she is one of few women in parliament, though this was less of a problem during her time in the European Parliament.

Riddell, however, is to some extent more positive about her experience in the media, saying that she has never faced ‘overt sexism.’ The political commentator does go on to say that a lack of women in media is very noticable, with  just three-quarters of news journalists male, only one female editor (at the Daily Star) and at her own paper, only 26 per cent of journalists are women.

Research published by Women in Journalism this week certainly backs her opinion. She is asked what women can contribute to the media industry and about the crisis brought about by phone hacking. Riddell points out that the phone hacking scandal was not simply a male problem – as Rebecca Brooks was at the centre. Nevertheless, she does believe more women would help to dissipate a macho culture where ‘the ends justify the means, however vile’

Dr Sealy focuses on the underrepresentation of women in business, specifically on FTSE 100 boards – where women make up only 17.5 per cent of boards. Interestingly, higher levels of power are even less gender balanced – with 6.5 per cent of Executive Directors female.

She reminds the audience that the first female CEO of a FTSE 100 company – Marjorie Scardino, quit this year arguing that attitudes to women have not changed during her 15 years of experience. Apart from a lack of women being ‘a massive waste of talent’, Sealey believes with more women holding the reigns of big business there would be less of a culture of individualism.

With so much mention of specific qualities women could bring to the table, it is surprising that Caroline Lucas is the only figure to mention essentialism. Though she believes that economic policies would be better considered with the involvement of more women in decision making, she insists ‘I’m not being essentialist, honest!’

An uncomfortable moment arises when an audience member forthrightly challenges Lucas, asserting parliament is not just lacking women but ‘women with integrity.’  Chair of the debate, Cheri Goddard, suggests that expectations of Lucas as a female MP are high. The Fawcett Society’s Chief Executive suggests that when you are one of few women in parliament, or any minority, there is increased pressure to achieve gains.

In this very brief debate, mentions of solutions to under-representation in these industries are fleeting.

When pressed, Ruth Sealy says that progress in putting women on boards is encouraging – by 2020 we could be ‘approaching 40 per cent women on boards’. She qualifies this opinion – if we’d asked her two years ago she would have backed quotas but for now hopes that they will not be necessary. She notes that simply the threat of a quota has been a powerful tool for campaigners.

Lucas, raises job-sharing for MPs, allowing more women – and disabled people – to be involved in decision making and providing ‘greater diversity of experience within the chamber.’

Encouragingly, John McDonnell MP will present a job-sharing bill in the House of Commons this November, supported by Disability Rights UK as well as Lucas herself. You can sign their petition here.

Any hope of a solution for gender balance in media is unfortunately taken up by a  lengthy discussion on statutory regulation.

The last question asks the panelists to name their female heroes, and seems to have been put there to lighten the mood of a sometimes disheartening debate.

Mary Riddell suggests former Irish President, Mary Robinson, as well as Glenys Kinnock, former Labour MEP and now baroness in the House of Lords. Lucas picks newly appointed General Secretary of the TUC, Francis O Grady, and the German Green, Petra Kelly. For Sealy it is Emilene Pankhurst and Shirley Williams who inspire her.

It is obvious from the debate that we need more inspiring women like these in roles of power, what the debate does not quite make clear is how exactly we, as feminists, aim to achieve this.

What would more women bring to the table then? If the panelists are anything to go by – confident and intelligent debate, at least.