Tuesday 8th March 2022 is International Women’s Day. To mark this important day all who identify as a woman at Moneyhub are coming together for an afternoon tea and we will be making a donation to Refugee Women of Bristol - a multi-ethnic, multi-faith organisation that specifically supports refugee women in Bristol.
We also sat down with our CEO Sam Seaton to talk about why continuing to celebrate International Women’s Day is so important and what we can all do to #BreakTheBias
Why do you think it’s important to keep celebrating International Women’s Day?
I saw this picture from a CEO dinner at the 2022 Munich Security Conference on LinkedIn. It really drives home how important it is that we continue to champion diversity and celebrate International Women’s Day. We still have such a long way to go.
It’s not down to any one individual, but we’re so used to boardrooms like that. It looks normal to us. To change means getting out of your comfort zone. As human beings, we prefer to stay in comfortable situations. To stick with what’s ‘normal’. We’re wired to keep ourselves safe, we do it subconsciously just like breathing.
Initiatives like International Women’s Day that really encourage us to reassess our ‘normal’ are so important. They give us the much needed nudge to the edge of our comfort zones where we can start to change things and create a new, better normal.
“No matter what I feel my career has looked like, I’ve earned less all my life because I’m a woman and I have come up against those biases and statistics.”
International Women’s Day has been celebrated since 1911 and huge strides have been made towards equality since then. In your eyes how far do you think we still have left to go?
There’s no doubt about it, we still have a long way to go until we achieve economic equality. The official number is around 267 years but sometimes (like when I saw that picture) it can feel more like 1,000 years!
Some recently released stats shine a light on just how far we have still to go. In 2020 for example, there were more CEOs named Peter leading top UK companies than female CEOs. If we look at the FTSE 100, there are just six women CEOs compared to 94 men.
18th November 2021 marked ‘Equal Pay Day’, which means due to the gender pay gap, women are effectively working without pay compared to men for the rest of the year. At Moneyhub, 50% of the c-suite are female, and around a third of our people. As we continue to grow, I'd really like us to get to a 50:50 gender split, and we can achieve this, but it takes everyone to come together.
Are there any specific moments in your career that you can recall feeling bias towards you?
There are probably a lot but it’s hard to tap into specific scenarios. It’s not that I’m blasé, but I can look around at a room full of men and think “So what?! That’s not going to stop me doing what I’m doing - that’s not going to affect me right?!” Even though it is definitely affecting me.
When I was at university I was one of three women on a course of 120 students. So this imbalance started at age 18 for me. Probably even before that. But because it’s been there since day one, I’ve become accustomed to it.
Where it’s hindered me more than others comes down to raising money and the statistics around the glass ceiling. Those stats don’t lie. They are very real, no matter what I think. Statistically I am definitely going to hit a brick wall, or find it harder to raise funds. Just 2% of those funded are women - 98% are men.
The more senior you become, you realise it really is a male-dominated world. The chances of climbing up to c-level roles at those larger companies as a woman are slim. No matter what I feel my career has looked like, I’ve earned less all my life because I’m a woman and I have come up against those biases and statistics.
Do you think Covid has helped or hindered the fight for equality?
It’s a double-edged sword. There are two things that have happened with Covid.
The first is it’s opened everyone’s eyes as to how much more you can do flexibly. I’ve always been a massive fan of flexible working in terms of making your work work for you. It might mean five days a week 9-5 or it might mean something completely different.
If you give people the flexibility they need they can probably stay with your business longer, learn more and add more longevity to their career. Experience is always in demand so I think there’s a real efficiency in allowing for flexible working and why wouldn’t you want that for your business? If women are able to stay in roles and work flexibly and continue building up their knowledge and experience, it may help that journey up the career ladder go a little smoother and further.
“ I have no doubt that men want to spend just as much time with their children. There’s a long way to go when it comes down to perceptions and expectations. ”
On top of that, people are usually a bit happier and everyone wants a happier business. I genuinely don’t see any downsides to flexible working.
However, the lockdowns triggered by Covid took a disproportionate toll on women in the labour market. They suffered heavier job losses and were impacted on a greater scale by school closures and childcare needs.
There’s also a point to be made here about the expectations on mothers compared to fathers through the pandemic. We do what we can to celebrate the successes of women and gain more equality but it would be lovely if we saw a bit more of that from the male perspective. If we push ourselves out of our comfort zones when it comes to men’s paternity leave, or childcare roles, I have no doubt that men want to spend just as much time with their children. There’s a long way to go when it comes down to perceptions and expectations.
What do you think Moneyhub and other businesses can do to accelerate the journey to equality?
Something that’s really stuck with me from our Diversity & Inclusion training is the idea of having a tolerance for intolerance. It goes back to the idea of getting out of our comfort zones, being comfortable in those uncomfortable spaces.
“There’s that saying, “Charity begins at home”. I try to hold on to that sentiment with regards to equality and make sure I don’t overlook what’s immediately around me at Moneyhub in order to achieve the goal of equality.”
Earlier in my career I was heading up a team of developers and I made the radical decision with my team that they could wear whatever they liked to the office.
The place had a meltdown. I was dragged into a meeting with all the senior people who just couldn’t believe I was allowing this and how it wasn’t acceptable. I stood my ground. I said “My team isn’t client-facing, they're here to build technical products. It’s what they want to do and it’s what we want them to do, so why does it matter what they’re wearing?!”
And I won. And I’m quite proud of that because I was ahead of my time and because I brought those seniors around to a different, more accepting way of thinking. They might not have liked it, but they adjusted.
It’s the same principle - we need to celebrate individuality and discomfort if we’re going to achieve equality. If, all of a sudden, 50% of the people in that room in Munich were women, people are going to feel uncomfortable. It’s human nature, but we really need to embrace it to move forward.
At Moneyhub we also try to do our bit with our Family leave - we give everyone six weeks of paid leave, regardless of how they become a parent - as well as enabling people to live life a bit more fluidly or flexibly.
There’s that saying, “Charity begins at home”. I try to hold on to that sentiment with regards to equality and make sure I don’t overlook what’s immediately around me at Moneyhub in order to achieve the goal of equality.
Last year, we celebrated International Women’s Day by getting an incredible group of women together for a candid and open chat about women in leadership (complete with chocolate and fizz)! You can catch the replay here.
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