Ambition Debate: The Discussions

The Debate

The trends were surprising in some senses.

Around 80% of the audience (and three out of four of the panel) felt that it was time to go for quotas in the UK.  The debate about whether women would feel anxious if quotas were introduced was broadly dismissed,for those who were strongly behind quotas there was absolutely no reason not to do it, and there were a high proportion of women who had previously been unsupportive of quotas who have recently changed their minds. The few who were against quotas felt that we needed to build up communities where proper talent was recognised and that quotas would preclude this from happening: most acknowledged that this was the panacea, but that we had been willing and waiting for this for decades and that patience had worn too thin to wait any longer.

Other discussions ranged around children; there was a great discussion on women’s responsibilities but also their choices. Having children (and divorces, business catastrophes, illness, relationship breakdowns, ageing parents) hadn’t stopped many of the successful women in this room. It had been tough, but it had been solved, or at least handled and managed. It was agreed that ALL success, whatever it looks like, demands sacrifice to some degree.

Discussion was also held on characteristics of female leaders, and what good leadership really looks like. It was agreed that women are too tough on themselves, need to get better pushing themselves forward and promoting themselves, and should have a responsibility not to give other women such a hard time: being female is not a general no-holds-barred sisterhood; we need to seek out talent and recognise, reward and support it.

The image of women  as sexualised objects in the media was also discussed at length, and how we should continue to look at ways to campaign to bring about changes in this field, as if we want the next generation to be more healthy in this regard, we need to look at what they are being fed by the media.  

A complete guide to the day's events will shortly be available to download in PDF format: visit again soon for your copy.