In January 2022, the Fawcett Society published its biennial report on women’s representation in positions of power across the UK. The findings are stark and demonstrate that the UK still has a long way to go before gender equality is achieved.
The Fawcett Society found that, since its last Sex and Power report in 2020, change in most sectors has been “glacial”. Across 5,166 positions of power, only 32% are held by women and in political, legal and cultural professions, women are still outnumbered by men at a ratio of 2:1. For example, the report found that women make up just 34% of members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and similar groups advising the government on the coronavirus response. Furthermore, out of 100 FTSE CEOs, only 8% are women and none are women of colour.
The position is particularly poor in politics, especially in Westminster and on local councils. The proportion of female MPs rose just 2% in two years, from 32% in 2017 to 34% in 2019, and the proportion of women on local councils rises just 0.5% each year. Furthermore, the proportion of women in Cabinet has decreased to 26% and has generally stayed between 20% and 35% since 1997. Outside Westminster, women’s representation in politics has been considerably more progressive. For example, in the Scottish Parliament women now make up 45% of MSPs, which is an increase of 9% since 2019.
Also in the Scottish Parliament, six ethnic minority MSPs now make up 4.5% of the members (which closely reflects the Scottish population in general). Elsewhere, the position is not so positive. There are no women of colour in top positions of power such as Supreme Court Justices, FTSE-100 chief executives and the largest trade unions. This is evidence of the barriers that are present for women of colour trying to progress in their careers and many are calling for urgent action. The CEO of the Fawcett Society comments that this lack of representation is not just an indication of opportunities lost for the women themselves, but negatively affects society in general which misses out on women’s talent, skills and perspectives.
Whilst female representation in wider society is improving (albeit slowly), it is clear that there is still a long way to go in the UK. The Fawcett Society’s report makes recommendations aimed at political parties, the UK government and businesses. These include, amongst other things, setting targets to increase the number of women in positions of power and putting action plans in place to ensure such targets are met; in-depth pay gap reporting; and making flexible working the default for all job roles where possible.
Encouragingly, the Scottish Government has recently announced a further two years of the Workplace Equality Fund, which aims to make Scottish workplaces more inclusive and diverse, and to tackle barriers such as pay gaps, workplace discrimination and progression opportunities. Under the scheme, private, public and third sector organisations can apply for funding to support activities that will have an impact on one or more under-represented groups. Initiatives such as these are crucial in tackling women’s under-representation and will take us one step further on the long road ahead to reaching gender equality.
