Cherie Blair said she had been fortunate that her life has coincided with huge advances for women in the UK, the Netherlands and around the world. The prejudice which women faced when she started her career as a lawyer had been rooted out. There were now tough laws banning discrimination and a genuine desire throughout society to recruit and promote on merit.
But while there has been great progress, we remained a long way from real equality of opportunity as the continuing gender pay gap and lack of women in the boardrooms in both the Netherlands and the UK showed. The barriers may now be informal and often unconscious but they remain. This is very damaging not just to women but to businesses and economies.
The challenges our world faces are so complex, we need to harness the talents and potential of everyone, whatever their background. Nor is it just about numbers. Research also shows that diversity improves decision-making while women can also bring qualities which complement those of their male colleagues.
That was why the Talent to the Top initiative is so important and being watched with interest in other countries. The UK as well had adopted a voluntary approach rather than statutory quotas to increasing women’s representation at the most senior levels. Time would tell if this approach will work but it is likely that pressure for legally enforced targets would come from Europe rather than national governments.
The best way of ensuring there are more women at the top, however, was to make sure there were plenty of women at the next level down. This is where the greatest problems still lie and where there is the most need for increased efforts.
There are no easy answers to these challenges. But it must start with a greater emphasis to helping people achieve work-life balance – an area where the Netherlands is more advanced than the UK. This will help men as well as women.
We also need as well more thought given to how women who have taken time off to have children can be helped to continue their career and not just have to settle for positions with lower pay and prospects. This is a waste of talent we can’t afford.
All this requires not only new practical measures from government and business policies but also a lead from the top. It is personal example which often matters as much as policy initiatives in changing the culture of workplaces.
There needs to be more effort and support, too, to make sure women are not disadvantaged by the informal rules and networks in the workplace. These are vitally important for recruitment and advancement but as they were drawn up by men, they can, usually unconsciously, discriminate against women.
That’s why it is important organisations support informal women’s networks and encourage mentoring – something which many sensible businesses and organisations have already realised.
It is also an initiative which the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, with the support of Google, is trying to do on an international scale. We have been recruiting successful businesswomen and men to offer advice to women setting up their own businesses in the developing world.
It is vital that women - and men – look beyond their own organisations and societies and help in the fight to lift barriers blocking women across the world. In many places, women are still denied the most basic human rights with terrible impact on their families, communities and economies. Everyone gains if we can move towards true equality of opportunity. As Hillary Clinton has said, the failure to make the most of the potential of women is the last great impediment to universal progress.
