Women Role Models

Women - Who do we aspire to be?
By Maxine Muzzlewhite
Who are our role models – is it the celebrity who on the surface appears to have it all or is it the woman who’s reached the top of the ladder in one of the FTSE top 100 companies. Maybe it’s woman entrepreneur who’s gone out on her own and created her own enterprise or is it the woman who’s decided to stay at home and look after her family?

Maybe it’s all of these. What I would like is for every woman to have choice, to be able to rise to the top of the ladder if she wishes, to be given the same opportunities and earning potential as a man.   However, this is still along way from happening, According to ‘Women in London’s Economy’ a report issued by the Mayors’ Office, there has been no progress in reducing the pay gap between men and women. To see more on this www.london.gov.uk  One of the top reasons for this is that women don’t push for pay rises in the way that men do – we aren’t as assertive as men.  Yet, if we try to be assertive we are then labelled as aggressive. So it appears we can’t win!! It seems in the corporate world women have to exceed far beyond their male equivalents just to achieve equal recognition.

So in reality women are still struggling to enter the man’s world, and reach the top of the ladder. However, I think for the woman who enters the celebrity arena or who decides to do her own thing - for the first time they no longer have to compete against a man– they can do things on their own terms. For many it will provide them with the work/ life balance that wasn’t available for them in the corporate world.  It’s vital we have women in big business though and we need more women to be there. I think companies need to realise they can’t operate without women.  But they do need to provide the very thing we all tend to take for granted - the basic right of being given the same opportunities and earning power as a man.

Although we see more women receiving lots of awards – it’s still not enough. We need more role models who inspire and encourage us. I recently asked lots of my women colleagues who their role models were and they all struggled to give me a name. So I pose the question who is your role model and why? 

Every month I will be featuring some amazing candidates all of whom have succeeded in very different ways. They each have inspiring stories to tell about their achievements and future ambitions, yet I noticed they all had one thing in common they were passionate about what they did.

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