• 70 % of respondents said that their company ’ s working practices could be improved for women – main issues include career path progression , childcare provisions and flexible working
• Have you been subjected to comments or actions in your workplace that you would see as non-supportive of you being female ? Over half of the respondents said yes to this question , with some tales of not being taken seriously in meetings , to one male respondent saying he witnesses them being ‘ silently elbowed-out ’
• Number of females in the business . 69 % of respondents said that there were 25 % or less females in their business
• Females in senior management team . 15 % of respondents had half or more females in their senior management team . 25 % of respondents have between 25-50 % of females in their management team . 60 % of respondents had a minority and in most cases no women on their senior management team
• From 1700 industry manufacturers and service companies exhibiting at NAB less than 2 % have a female CEO !
• All respondents ( apart from one ) wanted to have a pro-active group that supports women in broadcast and provides networking , talks and mentoring
So , have things changed – yes , a bit but not enough . I ask myself repeatedly , especially looking around the halls of IBC , how do we attract more women into the industry and get the ones in it to get into more senior positions ? It is absolutely correct to say that we need to start it at a school and university level but we need to make it attractive for women to join . As part of our survey we looked at 250 industry manufacturers websites and only 25 % of them had women using equipment on them and the majority used terminology such as cameraman . The statistic on the number of women as CEO is just shocking and will not encourage women in any way .
In my mind to accelerate this change we need to work with the industry associations , exhibitions and manufacturers to raise the issue and get talking about it . Following on from the survey results we have formed a new group called Rise which is currently being put together and will host its first event in London before the end of the year with global events to follow .
What next ? The Rise group is looking for women and men to join and be part of the change , I will be at NAB New York so if you would like to get involved or meet up please let me know on sadig @ bubbleagency . com and we can start making a difference .
Broadcast Beat Magazine • www . broadcastbeat . com • 17