As a kid my attitude was always ‘why shouldn’t a girl do that?’ and my Dad subtly encouraged that by ignoring gender stereotyping.
He’d ride me round the garden on his motorbike and shared his love of computers, even teaching me a bit of computer coding.
I carried that ‘no barriers’ mindset all through school and into my career. Initially I followed my interest in physics and worked on widening participation in science – I’ve since been led more and more by my values and interest in social mobility and equality of opportunity.
Over the last few years, I have been working as a governance and diversity and inclusion consultant in the charity sector. I also chair the board of a national charity focused on children’s mental health and wellbeing.
I am currently Head of Governance for CIPFA, the professional association for public finance and accountancy, and I am leading their diversity and inclusion work. My governance role means I am at the heart of the decision making and well placed to help ensure action is embedded across the Institute.
CIPFA is in a great position to influence practice across the public sector; I’m excited to be helping them do that.
Did you ever sit down and plan your career?
I’ve never created a 10-year plan, but I have got better at thinking one or two steps ahead. Several years ago, I ran a careers information project and learnt a lot about managing your own career from careers guidance professionals. I subscribe to their mantra that careers are not ladders, they are jungle gyms – sometimes you go up, sometimes down, sometimes you swing sideways…and that’s ok.
Have you faced any challenges along the way?
If I’m honest, my main challenges have been in my head! I’ve held myself back far too often.
What has been your biggest achievement to date?
I’m proud of the role I have played in encouraging and supporting science and engineering professional bodies to take action to become more diverse and develop a more inclusive culture. They are very committed, not just in words, but in action and resourcing too and it is great to see. The message that it will lead to better science and engineering has been taken on board by leaders in the sector.
What one thing do you believe has been a major factor in you achieving success?
I’m obsessed with learning so constantly adding to my knowledge!
How do you feel about mentoring? Have you mentored anyone or are you someone’s mentee?
I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never formally mentored anyone and I don’t have a mentor of my own, although I do call on people for advice when I feel I need it.
I do think mentoring can be very helpful and the evaluations I have read suggest that mentoring relationships work best when there are clear goals and timelines.
Sponsorship is also important – having people who will champion you, put your name forward at the right time and open doors to opportunities can be incredibly beneficial.
If you could change one thing to accelerate the pace of change for Gender Equality, what would it be?
I think we need to be careful about defining people by just gender, other factors come into play. Changing the world of work benefits everyone – if that was more widely recognised we’d progress faster.
For a long time, the focus was on fitting women into a workplace designed by and for men. Now I think we are starting to see a mainstream shift to re-examine how people work – partly accelerated by the pandemic but also with some men taking on childcare and younger generations rejecting long hours and presenteeism.
A particular bugbear of mine is the lack of part-time jobs. In my own circle, I see many mothers working below their skill level because employers are resistant to part-time jobs at senior levels.
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self what would it be?
Be bold and move on if it doesn’t feel right. You may feel like you don’t have a safety net, but you’ll be ok. Take the first step and a new route will start to emerge.
What is your next challenge and what are you hoping to achieve in the future?
There is a lot I want to achieve at CIPFA to strengthen the organisation and bring new voices into public finance. There are so many possibilities and opportunities, and I’m looking forward to exploring those in the coming months.
I also want to use my position as Chair to grow the charity nurtureuk because I know we’ll be helping a generation of children be happier, get more from education and fulfil their potential.
WeAreTheCity has a back catalogue of thousands of Inspirational Woman interviews, including Cherie Blair, Paula Radcliffe MBE, Caprice Bourret, Anna Williamson and many more. You can read about all our amazing women here.
