Big Girl's Blouse

Today’s Financial Times carries a piece that has irked your humble correspondent.

Research from Cranfield University apparently shows “macho attitudes at science, engineering and technology companies mean they are less likely to have women in their boardrooms or in senior management positions than companies in other sectors”.

The report goes on to say that some boardroom practices “habits, language and ways of working” keep qualified women out of top jobs.

“Female executives said they sometimes felt excluded, unless they were interested in male sports, and that social occasions could be difficult if there was only one woman present.”

I’m sorry to sound unsympathetic, but there’s a point where the girls should be big enough to stand up for themselves.

Senior women managers presumably need leadership and communication skills to do their jobs – and are paid accordingly. Well, use 'em!

Making a mark among your senior colleagues and gaining respect in the workplace is a challenge for everyone. If football is the conversational currency in the Boardroom, then bone up on the offside rule.

The wider point is that its high time we recognised the Sex Wars are over and stopped forcing men to pay reparations for crimes most never committed.

Gender equality means removing glass celings not lowering the bar.

I’m personally more bothered about women cleaners not being paid the minimum wage, or women shop assistants being forced to work the Christmas holidays.

That faint hum is the sound of the smallest violin in the world playing ‘Just for the Senior Women Executives.’