The case for more women in business

Although women make up 50% of the population, at senior management and board levels men outnumber women by a ration of roughly 10 to 1.

However, there is now a growing body of opinion suggesting that more women should be appointed to senior positions, not because they have been unfairly treated in the past, but because the different perspectives they offer are becoming increasingly important to western businesses.

Various commentators and authors have argued that we are emerging from an era in which left-brained logical thinking dominated, into an age in which a more emotional, empathetic and caring approach is of increasing importance. If this is so then women, who the eminent Cambridge psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen said are "hard-wired for empathy", should have an advantage over their male colleagues.

In this article we look at both the argument and the evidence to support the case for more women in business. More...

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