What is one thing you would like to challenge this International Women’s Day?
Julie:
The perceived incompatibility of senior leadership roles with flexible working arrangements. How can we create more space for leadership roles to be filled by a more diverse set of people, whether they work in the office or at home, from 9-5 or with flexible hours, full time or in an alternative working arrangement?
From what I've seen, these type of flexible roles are often possible for junior positions, but somehow senior positions keep being reserved for those that can make the commitment to a full-time, on-site, always-on job. Having a little one myself, that's simply not something I can commit to at the moment.
Technology has made this enormous shift to flexible and remote working possible, so why not make use of it? Instead of excluding leaders, shouldn't they be leading by example? We risk losing highly educated, smart, senior women because they don't see a future that allows them to grow into senior and executive positions, while maintaining the flexibility to manage their lives outside of work. I feel very fortunate to have an employer that allows me the freedom to configure my work-life integration, and I can only hope I can continue to do so while growing my career. If we want diverse leadership teams, we need to make space for that diversity. Not just by hiring a diverse set of people, but also by creating an adaptable work environment for those people to thrive.
Rosetta:
That the women of today shouldn’t be the leaders of tomorrow.
Mayase:
It is not only the job of women to change the demographics in STEM and increasing their participation in leadership roles. I challenge the notion that women must push this agenda and beg to be heard. There is a lot of research out there showing that Inclusive leadership and diverse teams are more effective in outputting customer value and bringing in more revenue. Its a no brainer to me for organisations that want to grow and impact society. We are all in this together. More women in tech benefits society. The decisions we are making for future generations need all voices included.
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