"Build the policy infrastructure and support that women in leadership need, then we can truly bring equal representation of women’s views and priorities to our democracy"
Whatever your political persuasion, it's generally uplifting to see the results from the recent general election introduce a greater presence of women in public life.
A record number of female MPs were elected, with a record number of 242 female MPs being voted into the House of Commons, surpassing the previous record of 220 in 2019.
Years of well-evidenced research establish the value of women’s leadership and the benefits of gender-diverse boards and senior leadership. We know it’s important to ensure gender equality in our governments.
However, the path to leadership for women is still fraught with challenges that require our collective effort to overcome. We must continue to raise women up, not only by celebrating their successes but by actively equipping and encouraging them on the journey to get there.
We represent the Girls’ Brigade England & Wales, a fellowship which creates opportunity for networks of support to be built, which can be present and helpful for young leaders.
Girls’ Brigade enables and equips girls to be the leaders of the future – in all spheres of life. Internationally, we have special consultative status at the UN Commission for Status of Women in recognition of the life-changing work we do to build the skills, confidence and agency of girls and young women.
The work we do is powerful – transformational - in building girls’ confidence and resilience and enables them to live life to the full. It equips them as leaders of the future in whatever they do.
As Dawn Butler MP says: “I was in Girls’ Brigade when I was a young girl and my experience was very life-affirming. I felt safe and like I could grow and develop. Today, it’s still relevant. It’s a safe place where girls and women can get together to share experiences and build friendships and that is a valuable component of a young person’s growth. As an African-Caribbean woman and leader I believe it is important for me to use my experiences to smooth the road for those coming after me. I firmly believe that when girls and women are on the ladder of success, we should lay the foundations for an escalator, making the journey of women coming behind us faster, smoother and easier.”
A young leaders programme helps people prioritise building a culture of trust and integrity, because working in an environment of trust and integrity means that people can do their best work and success follows.
But once a woman is in a leadership position, more obstacles follow. The various entrenched reasons for women’s lower level of political participation are also well researched and well known. They range from deeply ingrained culture and customs, lack of self-confidence, economic factors (like the gender pay gap) to these pressing responsibilities for caring for children and other family members. Organisations lose their investment in senior staff and leaders if they leave to take on the demands of caring responsibilities. There has undoubtedly been progress in recent years, but we’re not where we need to be in terms of a just and fair society.
As we celebrate women in leadership, let’s use this as a chance to introduce essential policy changes on caring responsibilities that so often hamper at critical stages in people’s careers, especially women.
The different perspectives that women bring on relationships and decision making tend to result in more collaborative workplaces with a more positive inclusive culture is well documented. And crucially gender balanced teams tend to be more innovative and creative.
Although men increasingly share in childcare and care for the sick or elderly, it’s still the case that the vast majority of this unpaid for benefit to society is fulfilled by women. Many of our volunteers are carers, and some are sandwich carers where they’re caring for an older relative while at the same time bringing up their children. Many of our girls are carers too.
We believe more focus is needed to create better infrastructural support to enable and support women in leadership. And this includes better workplace information and networks set up for those with caring responsibilities to prevent feelings of isolation. We also know that professional carers have never been seen as such and have therefore been undervalued for too long. We suggest that government, third and private sectors could usefully collaborate on the professionalisation of the caring industry, setting up clearer career structures and support for care workers, for example through establishment of a code of conduct, with principles, underpinning guidance on behaviours, expectations and accountability so that there is greater transparency about what is demanded of them.
If we can offer young girls and women the opportunity to shape their own journeys in leadership and build the policy infrastructure and support that women in leadership need, then we can truly bring equal representation of women’s views and priorities to our democracy.
Judith Davey-Cole is CEO, and Margaret Casely-Hayford is patron, of Girls’ Brigade England & Wales.
