Opinion: 'Diversity? I thought middle-aged white men knew everything?'

Any of you who attended last year’s Airmic conference panel discussion may remember a comment tweeted onto the big screen: “Diversity? I thought middle-aged, white men knew everything?”. For those of you who didn’t know, I was the one who sent it. 

I have spent almost my entire career in male-dominated industries (banking, medical, rail) and, as a general rule, I have really enjoyed it. I don’t have a feminist agenda – but I do believe it’s time we stopped assuming that the best person for the job is a white man. To be clear, for me, diversity isn’t just about men versus women – it’s about colour, race, age, sexual orientation, religion and disability. While we see very few women on discussion panels, we also see very few (if any) black, Asian, young, disabled or gay people leading these debates.

The recent appointment of Inga Beale as chief executive at Lloyd’s of London, I hope, starts a new trend of senior women stepping up to the plate, or as Sheryl Sandberg chief operating officer of Facebook would put it, “leaning in”. It’s very exciting to see such a dramatic shift in an industry even more hidebound than banking when it comes to women’s career development. While I look forward to seeing what changes might occur while Beale is in post, it would be very unfortunate if her gender overshadows her business acumen as she does the top job at Lloyd’s. Unfortunately, Beale’s appointment came too late for an invitation to join the Airmic discussion panel in 2014 – but maybe we’ll see her there another year.

Other women in the news recently have opened the eyes of women lower down the career path. Of the current UK business leaders listed in The Telegraph, four out of the seven were women. Yet I hear women say again and again: “We don’t have any role models.” For me, that’s an excuse. I’m as ready to see a successful man as a role model, as I am a woman. Indeed, if that’s what you want, there are dozens of successful women to pick from – Carolyn McCall, Mary Barra, Harriet Green, Janet Yellen, Angela Ahrendts – and in our own industry, Inga Beale, to mention but a few.

I’m on the board of Airmic, where we have five women leaders in risk and insurance, including one who has already served as chairman and another due to become our chairman in June. You could argue that five out of a board of 16 still shows a considerable bias towards men, but it should also be recognised that there are more men in the industry than women. It is worth noting too that many women don’t actually want to move up the career ladder. They’re happy doing the job they do. And that’s fine.

There are only a certain number of people (men or women) who want to move up the food chain in business. And, the fact is, men are often more likely to have that desire than women. But that doesn’t mean ambition doesn’t run in women – because it does – although perhaps it is harder to see because there are fewer of us.

As a member of that group, I’m ambitious, I want to get on, and at some point I want to become a chief risk officer. My career to date is leading me in that direction – slowly but surely. 

So as for that tweet, do I really believe middle-aged, white men are getting all the breaks that I deserve? Not at all. My question was designed to provoke debate.  And that debate has moved on. Are women where they need to be? No. Are we making progress with diversity? Yes. Can we go further? To borrow the campaign slogan of America’s first black President – “Yes, we can”. Which prompts the next question, will we see a woman occupying the Oval Office any time soon? Hmm, one to think about…

Elaine Heyworth, safety & assurance director, Heathrow Express

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