www.ceotodaymagazine.com 77 THE DIANA GROUP and allowances. In essence, this suggests that society is raising women to accept that they deserve less than men, in terms of pay and ambitions. From a young age, girls are taught to be modest, never selfish, to listen to others, to not be controversial or bold and to ultimately not be ambitious because at the end of the day, our primary goal is to settle down with a husband and create the perfect family. Women who defy this ideal are questioned, resented or even pitied as leading a supposedly unfulfilled life. We need more balance, we need more diversity and we need to stop this cycle once and for all. We desperately need a critical mass of educated, economically independent and powerful women who will reach top positions in economics, science, finance, and politics, in order for them to change the very basis of our existence. Misogynistic societies are very much known to supress the views of strong women and there is often the lack of powerful female role models to encourage young girls to break out against these feminine expectations. It is important that in a society where women are making major headway for female empowerment, compared to a decade ago, we are still doing what we can to ensure we are making further progress. Starting with the gender pay gap. While big steps have been taken by the government to ensure companies are publicly disclosing their pay gap figures, there is still a lot more to be done - transparency clearly isn’t a large enough deterrent. The attitude towards women in the workplace as whole needs to change from the current archaic values we are still experiencing today. Women in the workplace, particularly CEOs need to create more noise around this issue and not stand too complacent with society as it stands. The number of female owned companies has definitely grown in the past decade but they are still a minority. Female CEOs and entrepreneurs are continuing to face hurdles that are very different compared to the struggles faced by their male counterparts, whether it be funding or critical board decisions. Most women are starting out in industries that are still predominantly male dominated where gaining the respect from their male colleagues can be a struggle from the get-go. The fear of failure is an obstacle faced by all CEOs and entrepreneurs, men and women a-like. Women in particular, must not let societal pressures keep them from making bold decisions, doing what they want and how they want, and ultimately, be whatever they want to be and not what anyone expects them to be. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Born in Italy and now based in London, Paola Diana has dedicated her life to championing sexual equality in business and politics in the UK and Italy. Paola founded the organisation PariMerito (Equal Merit), which she used to lobby the Italian Government to pass new equality laws in the workplace, including a new bill requiring every company board to have minimum 30% female representation. She is also an entrepreneur, starting her first business as a single mother of two. Her hugely successful Diana Group comprises three separate businesses and has established itself as a market leader in recruitment and lifestyle services -recognised as one of London’s most influential service providers for high net worth individuals, families and corporations around the world.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk3Mzkz