Not all women are keen on equality either
Setting quotas to increase the number of female managers at Deutsche Telekom has upset only one group more than the men who dominate its management – the women who hold one senior job in eight. Having qualified on merit they resent their sisters being given a free lift to the top.
The decision by Deutsche Telekom – known in Britain for its T-Mobile brand – shows how tricky it is to try for equality.
The group has set a target of raising the current 13 per cent ratio of females in senior and middle management to 30 per cent by 2015. Even if that does not mean sacking men, it suggests there will be little chance of promotion in the next few years for male managers.
The company admits it will use positive discrimination to achieve its goal. But it did not anticipate the reaction of its minority of women managers: having got their without quotas they are not happy to see others being promoted or recruited because of their gender.
The accusation that some women are too eager to remove the ladder once they have climbed above the glass ceiling is not new, but it is usually aimed at particular females. But quotas are not he way to achieve equality, even though Norway and Sweden have introduced them to ensure that 40 per cent of boardroom seats are held by females.
Just 12 per cent of FTSE 100 directors are female and – and this is the real scandal – almost all are non-executives.
British industry has rightly shunned quotas, though the civil service has set a target of increasing the proportion of women in senior roles from 35 to 39 per cent by 2013 while the 28 per cent of public workers in top management posts is scheduled to increase to 35 per cent.
The important point is not having specific numbers of women in specific tiers of management but to ensure that there is complete equality of opportunity in appointments. And if some women choose not to climb to the top of the ladder, no one – including well-meaning target-setters – should force them.
