Gender diversity in the workforce

x Sponsored content on Research Live and in Impact magazine is editorially independent.
Find out more about advertising and sponsorship.

Over the course of 15 years in the private sector and 20 years in political activism, I have come to believe that gender diversity is an issue that transcends sector and workplace and is the number one workplace issue to address in our society. Every way you look, we know gender inequality doesn’t just hold back talent but we pay an economic price too – an estimated £600bn.

In the UK parliament, currently only 29% of MPs in the House of Commons are women, and still more men were elected at the last election than the total number of women ever elected. Women made up just 26% of FTSE 100 boards and only 14% of people working in science and technology jobs. Our gender entrepreneurship gap is more than twice that of France and Germany.

Recently I spoke at the launch of a Young Fabian pamphlet called Women in Financial Services: Is Parity a Pipe Dream? They had contributions to ...