An overwhelming majority of women believe that there will never be an equal number of women in the boardroom in their life times, even though it is predicted that women will make up the majority of the working population in the next ten years and will control the majority of the UKís wealth within 20. The results of the findings published today by the new business womenís video site, Diva-Biz, which sheds new light on the barriers women face to entering and succeeding in business.
When it came to the main drivers for being in business 51% of women rated personal fulfilment as their main motivation, whereas only 23% gave financial reward as key reason.
Fiona Price founder of Diva-Biz says: ìThe fact that business women are driven by personal fulfilment is helpful in explaining the strong emphasis women place on culture, teamwork, ethics and excellence in business. This is a recurring theme in all the interviews with business women on the site. ìFinancial rewardí comes way down in the reasons for being in business. ëStatusí is barely even on the radar which fits in with many womenís ego-less approach in recruiting people they think are better than them and promoting the team in place of themselvesî.
Another startling finding is that 53% of women believed that the male senior management in many British businesses does not really understand the value of women leaders. Fiona says, ìif senior management does not personally support the development of women in their organisations it is no wonder that the millions spent on diversity to date seems to have yielded pretty poor returns for corporate womenî.
As consumers, women are equally misunderstood, and it appears as if companies are missing out by not communicating effectively to this valuable market. The survey found that 55% of business women who are in relationships make the important buying decisions with their partner. Of the remaining 45%, almost all the decisions are made by women!
A staggering 68% felt that companies which sell products perceived to be mostly for men such as cars, hi-tech and financial services fail to communicate effectively with them as consumers.
ìWomen are a growing force of stakeholders in the economy, as consumers, workers, investors and business leaders and it is important for leading companies like AXA to communicate and engage them effectively.î Jo Cann, Corporate Benefits Marketing Director AXA
In the area of relationships the survey confounds a number of myths. Over 90% of business women are in relationships, 44% sourced most of their support from their partners; only 5% turn to their employer, 27% said that success had improved their relationship.î
Fiona adds: ìThe findings fly in the face of stereotypes about successful women, a common one being that women at the top tend not to be in relationships, or that they have a difficult time romantically because of their success. In fact, it seems the majority of female business leaders are in relationships and a large percentage of them have turned their relationships into an asset by seeking support from their partnersî.
And finally, regards health, most women seem to have it pretty sussed ñ 64% said their health is good most of the time!
Fiona Price says: ìUndoubtedly, women generally do business in a different way to men and need different business support with an emphasis on role models, networking and mentoring. Diva-Biz aims to provide a local, national, even international network for business women and provide the inspiration which is missing to get women into business and aim for the top.î
The Diva-Biz Survey
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