International Women’s Day – 8 March 2015
Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate their economic, political and social achievements.
At ICAEW, we recognise that female chartered accountants face a number of challenges in the finance profession. We support the advancement of women within the profession, working with both employers, business partners and individual members. International Women’s Day is an opportunity to highlight these issues and share our commitment to championing the role of women, both in the accountancy profession and throughout the wider business world.
The blog discusses why we must look beyond chasing targets for more female business leaders, where she asks how businesses can manage a diverse workforce? And, more specifically, how will they create a pipeline of future leaders that include more women?
ICAEW resources on Women in the boardroom
Research suggests that companies with more diverse boards perform better and take fewer risks.
The ICAEW Library has a wide range of resources covering the latest research, reports, articles and guides on legal and regulatory initiatives in the UK and around the world to increase the representation of women on corporate boards.
Women on Boards report
Following the launch of Lord Davies’ independent review into Women on Boards in February 2011 (which set out a series of recommendations to increase the number of women on company boards), Cranfield School of Management has published a six month monitoring report on Women on Boards.
Read the 3rd update report and learn about other Women on Boards updates on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills website.
ICAEW’s Women in Leadership programme
ICAEW’s Women in Leadership programme is designed to support women in finance working across practice, industry and the public sector who are aiming for director, partner or senior management roles. It combines blended learning through action learning groups, mentoring, strengths workshops, networking events and access to inspirational speakers.
Hear from one of our Women in Leadership delegates:
‘I attended the ICAEW Woman in Leadership programme because I felt I needed something to assist in my development as a leader. It is all about building on your strengths rather than conquering your weaknesses. It allowed me to understand my drivers, in that I care about people, that I am passionate about what I do and that I want to be a role model. The course also taught me to use slightly different tactics such as be more charming rather than being direct, which allowed me to be a more effective leader.’
Alison Lambert, Vice President, Finance Director Europe
Oxford Properties Group
Sharron Gunn, Commercial Executive Director at ICAEW, has also been quoted in the latest issue of the Financial Times speaking about return to work schemes, which are especially important in Malaysia, where ICAEW also runs a cohort of Women in Leadership alongside TalentCorp. Read the article here.
Related articles
- Getting women on boards - Getting more women into the top level of companies’ governance is a sensitive subject. Helen Roxburgh looks at whether it should be done, and discovers which countries are doing it best.
- Creating flexible workplaces isn't easy - If women could change one thing in business, society or government policy to make life easier for the next generation, what would it be?
- Female millenials more ambitious - Female millennials in the UK are the most confident and ambitious of any generation, yet still face inequality of opportunity, a new PwC report has argued.