Karen McLellan: What can and should be done to address gender parity in professional services?

Karen McLellan, Managing Director at Haines Watts, Hereford, discusses her stance on gender equality in the workplace and, in particular, women at the senior level of the accountancy profession.

“Here we go again” remarked my colleague when I told her I had been invited to write a blog on women in professional services. She smiles because she knows that I am passionate about gender equality in the workplace and would embrace this opportunity to share my views.

It is indeed one of my favourite subjects but not necessarily for the reasons you might expect.

The slow progress towards gender parity, particularly at a senior level, is exasperating and the statistics in professional services offer little encouragement. According to a recent Elevations Network survey of accounting and finance firms, just 20% of executive board members, partners and senior accountants are female. Our colleagues in the legal profession are doing better with 33% women partners according to the SRA – better, but not great.

So what can and should be done to address this issue?

I support many of the initiatives introduced to address workplace inequality. Mandatory gender pay gap reporting – yes; transparency in promotion selection criteria – yes; flexible working practices to support parents and carers – yes. But quotas for women on boards – no, no, no.

Attempts to force companies to recruit women to board level positions in order to fulfil quotas is, in my opinion, counterproductive. I am vehemently opposed to positive discrimination or any other intervention which sees an individual promoted for any other reason than simply being the best person for the job.

The rush to meet a target and avoid negative publicity could mean that some women are pushed up the chain into roles they are either not ready or suitable for.

The outcome will be resentment from colleagues, underperformance and, most worryingly, there will be a prevailing assumption that all women have only been promoted to senior roles because they are female, undermining those who have earnt their rank legitimately through ability and performance.

You can’t create a level playing field by disadvantaging men and you can’t empower women by giving them unfair advantage.

So what is the solution?

I’m going to suggest patience. Although progress is slow it’s still positive. Each woman who reaches a leadership position based on merit makes it easier for the next generation of women to get there. Each woman in the boardroom influences the progress of equality across the organisation.

And let’s not forget the interventions to address gender bias in the classroom. The impact of those policies are yet to be felt but I’m hopeful that girls who are educated to have the same aspirations and self-belief as boys will make their presence felt in the workforce very soon and then change will truly come and there will be no turning back.