Women with balls of steel

Just getting your foot in the door can be a challenge. In a study by a multinational petrochemicals company, psychologists found that female graduates applying for a fast-track trainee scheme tended to be better presented, more motivated and more in control than the men. But this was not reflected in the way they were rated by their mainly male interviewers. Men tended to be given more of a chance to shine. They were asked a greater number of open questions that gave them an opportunity to answer more than ‘yes’ or ‘no’. For the chance to say more about themselves, women had to take the initiative. When they did they were judged to be aggressive, whereas men were seen as assertive and self-confident.

The irony is, for those who do make it through, assertiveness and self-confidence are going to be vital to compete with the boys on what is, as the FTSE numbers prove, their home pitch.

Dawn Airey, now director of programmes at Channel 5, was only 26 when she was made controller of programme planning at Central Television in 1986. She was the first female ITV network planner and remembers the experience as being ‘very unpleasant’. ‘It was like going back to school – I went to a boys’ boarding school.’ Airey’s early experience at Central was marked by one meeting at which a senior planner called her a ‘fucking cunt’ because she had disagreed with him. What he didn’t know, says Airey, was that ‘I am hard as nails, and it was water off a duck’s back’.

Better be a man
A study published earlier this year by Janet Smithson at Manchester Metropolitan University and Liz Stokoe of University College Worcester found that macho male values continue to dominate in the workplace. ‘Some high-flying women in important positions in banks would actually refer to themselves as men,’ says Smithson. ‘They would say things like “I’m still my own man.” – clearly, the ideal of the generic man as a company role model is alive and well.’

Next page: name-calling