Most women don’t care about ‘equality’ but want equal opportunity.

Headlines that read “FTSE 100 firms still not hitting targets for women directors” and “UK Firms Fall Short Of Targets To Appoint More Women To Boards” always worry me!

First, because it seems these days we are too obsessed with social engineering to appease the few and appear “progressive” when what we should concern ourselves with is the empowerment and equal opportunity for the many, to allow everybody to progress on merit and ability not some mad desire to seem what we’re truly not!

Secondly, women are already under enormous pressure on a daily basis, most women every day juggle many hats and make a difference to most lives they touch – from shaping our future generations to affecting communities, policies and businesses. What women need is appreciation and supports not a constant reminder that it’s the twenty-first century and they are lagging behind in this sector or the other. It’s undermining and demoralizing.

Plus, the notion that women should be fifty percent of everything because they make about fifty percent of the population is utterly absurd. There are many fields where women dominate and men are equally capable but don’t. However, there doesn’t seem to be this crazed obsession with men lagging behind in those fields!

Of course it is better to have every segment of the society represented, because diversity breeds variety. But force feeding women to organisations is not the answer. We might be behind the curve, but pushed and rushed appointments might initially impress, however, like most baseless novelties long-term they will falter or even become counterproductive.

As a woman, I find it heartwarming to see women in powerful positions. But it is not enough to say we need women to sit in the boards of the biggest companies and therefore we should make it a tick box exercise and a quota! Women, especially those who reach these highest will only be undermined by such exercises.

The best service we can give women of all backgrounds is to respect them, believe in them, give them the opportunities to be the best they can be and trust them to deliver their best. Forget the quotas and the fudged targets and let’s accept that we dropped the ball some time ago but now are working to fix it.