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An overwhelming majority of women believe that there will never be an equal number of women in the boardroom in their life times, even though it is predicted that women will make up the majority of the working population in the next ten years and will control the majority of the UK’s wealth within 20.
The findings, published by the new business women’s website, Diva-Biz.com, shed light on the barriers women face to entering and succeeding in business.
When it came to the main drivers for being in business, 51% of women rated personal fulfillment as their main motivation, whereas only 23% gave financial reward as a key reason.
Fiona Price, founder of Diva-Biz, said: “The fact that business women are driven by personal fulfillment is helpful in explaining the strong emphasis women place on culture, teamwork, ethics and excellence in business. Financial reward comes way down in the reasons for being in business. Status is barely even on the radar which fits in with many women’s ego-less approach in recruiting people they think are better than them and promoting the team in place of themselves.”
The research also found that 53% of women believed that male senior managers in many British businesses do not really understand the value of women leaders.
Fiona said: “If senior management does not personally support the development of women in their organisation it is no wonder that the millions spent on diversity to date seems to have yielded pretty poor returns for corporate women.”
As consumers, women are equally misunderstood, and it appears companies are missing out by not communicating effectively to this valuable market. The survey found that 55% of business women who are in relationships make the important buying decisions with their partner. Of the remaining 45%, almost all the decisions are made by women.
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