Slow, Uneven Gender Equality Progress: The Readout With Allegra Stratton

Westminster is dominated today by the future of one of the most powerful women in the country, but we’ll turn to the fate of Home Secretary Suella Braverman later. First, I’d like to point out some other news on the topic of women and power, covered in an opinion piece today by my colleague Matthew Brooker. He writes that surveys suggest that Britain is making “steady, if unspectacular” progress on gender equality and the country compares relatively well with its international peers.

In February, the FTSE Women Leaders Review announced that the government-backed program had met its target of having women account for 40% of board positions in the 350 largest London-listed companies three years ahead of schedule. Read that sentence again. Rarely does a journo writing about public policy get to tap out the words “three years ahead of schedule.” Brooker found a gender equality report putting the UK fifth, ahead of Australia, the US and Germany while the World Economic Forum ranked the UK in 22nd place out of 146 countries, ahead of the US, Canada and the Netherlands. Not too shabby.

As Brooker notes, it’s pretty surprising given the UK is currently convulsed by stories of toxic masculinity at the CBI. There’s a catch, though. Look beyond the headline progress and it is pointed out to Brooker that the most powerful positions on boards are still held by men. Could it be that women are breaking through the glass ceiling only to find themselves stuck on a glass shelf instead?