Anne’s name is a pseudonym but she gave us permission to use this story.

Here is Anne’s Story:

I manage a Helpdesk team of 6 and a team of 2 ICT purchasing officers.  Out of those 8 only 2 are women (and one of those is on maternity leave).  Those numbers have fallen from about 4 years ago where we had an all women section.  The purchasing officers have always been women until this year now even those posts have been taken by men.  I have nothing against men but I think it is important to have a mixed workforce!  We have a mix of ages - I have staff from 23 to 61 - and I would really like to have a mix of genders as well.  We have just advertised for a new staff member (to cover maternity leave) and because on the previous 3 occasions we have only had men apply.  I asked HR to re-write the advert to actively encourage women to apply.  We have had some success - a third of those who applied were women and half of those short-listed for interview are as well.

Our department as a whole is definitely below average! - Only 12% of the staff are women.  None of the senior management are women.  2 out of 7 team managers are women - but one (myself) is paid less than the rest.

Do you have any more info on this subject?  Have you come up with any strategy for encouraging women to apply and then retaining them?  I would be grateful for any advice!