Not long after the first anniversary of gender pay gap reporting, I was out for dinner with a group of friends. Inevitably, the subject came up, and the supposed lack of female talent able to step into a senior role was mentioned. One of my female dinner guests complained how hard it was for her to get the opportunity to show how capable she was. Another replied she used the fact she was a woman to her advantage. As we all looked at her aghast, she explained.
She works in a male dominated office in a male dominated industry. As the issue of diversity became more and more important to clients, she noticed she was being invited to more client meetings. One of her male co-workers joked she was the ‘token’ woman.
‘I knew he was right, but I saw this as the perfect opportunity to show how good I am at my job’, she went on. ‘I started as the token diverse gender rep, but as soon as clients, and more importantly my team, saw I knew what I was doing and talking about, I was being invited for my expertise and knowledge.’