Royal Mail CEO declares support for women quotas

[fishtank]

.........could you define "whatever reason"?

Lack of confidence.
Lack of support.
Lack of an effective role model.
The sexual objectification of women as epitomised by page 3.

Can any of those really be used to explain why Royal Mail specifically has a gender imbalance.
Many other businesses don't and some like call centres tend to have the opposite imbalance.
If it's because Royal Mail offers little in the way of support for women with families i agree but surely a clumsy quota system is failing to address the underlying issues and hoping that sheer weight of numbers will force a change...

[hubbahubba]

So 52% of population are female.That doesn't mean that 52% are looking for employment!When a couple,or even a single parent family have a child or children,it is far more likely that the woman will be the one that stays at home and looks after the kids.
Im not saying thats right or wrong,its just the way it is.
When I have my day off and go shopping with the other half,the vast majority of people out shopping are OAP's and women of child bearing age,so to suggest that RM should alter the number of women to meet a quota is daft IMO.

[clashcityrocker]

I think RM has an imbalance for certain historical reasons.
It was physically demanding (less so now with the trollies ) and unsociable hours.
Given that RM had a policy of promoting from within, they largely employed men and promoted men.
P/T - 9.15 to 14.45 with no need to carry anything heavy (and an end to the masculine management culture) might change things, but very slowly.

[fishtank]

P/T - 9.15 to 14.45 with no need to carry anything heavy (and an end to the masculine management culture) might change things, but very slowly.

I think we are getting closer to the root of the problem but 9.15 to 14.45 has to mean 9.15 to 14.45.
I've seen many start on those hours assuming those would be the hours they would be working,normally a sensible assumption but not in this job.
Having agreed a resource model based on flexing up and a management structure that does not understand outside commitments,probably at least partly because they are predominantly male means things are unlikely to change at all.
Moya could change that without the need for quotas but will she?

[andy2007]

At some point you have to try and break the cycle.
Positive discrimination gives opportunities to people who for whatever reason might not otherwise have those opportunities.
They then become role models for other people and the whole under representation of minorities hopefully ends.

The sector of society that least favours positive discrimination is white men and they are probably over represented on this forum.

Actually, if you look in the left hand column, you'll find that there are women agreeing that a quota system isn't the answer. I admit, that I didn't take into account the fact that there are aspects of the job, which might put women off, when I made my earlier post. But the fact is, that simply adding a quota is never a justifiable answer. Having stricter rules, and better systems for complaining if someone is discriminated against is far more effective. And also, something needs to be done to make the job more attractive to female applicants.

[andy2007]

I think RM has an imbalance for certain historical reasons.
It was physically demanding (less so now with the trollies ) and unsociable hours.
Given that RM had a policy of promoting from within, they largely employed men and promoted men.
P/T - 9.15 to 14.45 with no need to carry anything heavy (and an end to the masculine management culture) might change things, but very slowly.

You're right about why there are so many male Managers. Although that's been changing (at least in my area anyway) for quite some time.

For example: We have a few women Managers, and there's one who's worked her way through the ranks, until last I heard, she was running an MC.