Women need to think big and be bold in our ambitions

Choosing a career is one of the most important decisions of a woman’s life and it’s never too early to start planning, writes Paula Neary

DO YOU remember when you were a child how you answered the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

I know I was determined to be a popstar or a teacher — and as someone who ended up with a degree in Engineering, I’m not sure what changed along the way...

Choosing a career is one of the most important decisions of your life, and I think we can all learn from the big, bold, and brave ambitions of our younger selves.

As we look towards International Women’s Day (IWD) on Sunday, we turn the spotlight on Ireland’s top female talent and celebrate their achievements.

Today, Accenture will host Ireland’s largest IWD event at Dublin’s Convention Centre, to celebrate successful Irish women and discuss how we can support each other to push boundaries, think big, and be bold in our ambitions.

This encouragement needs to start at a young age. In research Accenture undertook on encouraging girls to study science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM), we found that 44% of students think that STEM subjects and careers are more suited to males than females. And Higher Education Authority figures released recently showed 10 years ago 47% of entrants into STEM courses at university level were female — in 2013 it was 40%. In the same year only 16% of entrants into computer science were women.

How shocking is that?

I firmly believe that this topic needs to be close to all of our hearts to ensure we are prepared for the demands of tomorrow’s economy and have a diverse range of skills shaping our society. There are, of course, a number of great initiatives to encourage girls to study STEM subjects, for instance, the “IT is not for Geeks” schools programme, Girls Hack Ireland and Coder Dojo.

Us grown-ups face our own challenges within the workplace. The pace of change in the digital era is too fast to ignore. Business has fundamentally changed and women need to understand that, be the drivers of real change and step up as leaders to bring innovation into the organisations we work in. But have we adapted successfully to working in this digital age?

Every year, we launch global research as part of Accenture’s International Women’s Day celebration. This year, we looked at the opportunities and challenges of a workplace that is entirely shaped and changed by digital, while also investigating attitudes towards elevating women into senior positions.

The research shows:

n More than 7 in 10 respondents (71%) believe the number of women chief technology officers will grow by 2030;

n Further, 52% of respondents say that their companies are preparing more women for senior management this year than they did last year.

Attracting, advancing and retaining women rests on providing an environment and culture that develops leaders, empowers women and enables them to thrive.

Employers need to appreciate that what motivates women can sometimes differ to what motivates men — being responsive to these differences is an important way to improve job satisfaction and retain talented individuals.

In Accenture, we have effectively achieved this through our Accent on Women programme. Half of our Irish workforce of 1,600 is female, and there’s an average of 40% women across all levels of management.

Accent on Women supports women from recruitment, through development, progression, promotion, training, and maternity. The programme provides female employees with an opportunity to learn and network while providing all the support of a true community, which is often just a shoulder to lean on when you have those “career wobbles”.

The 30% Club was also recently launched in Ireland, a global movement aimed at achieving better gender balance in business. As steering committee members, Accenture is a big supporter of the club. We are working with business leaders in Ireland committed to bringing the proportion of female directors on Irish boards and at executive management level up to 30% by 2020.

So what about young businesses and entrepreneurs? Two years ago, only 3% of all high-potential Start-ups had female founders, now that figure is at 24%. It is great to see such an increase in female entrepreneurs but there is still a lot to be done in the area of technology.

There is some great work going on to raise the bar — Silicon Republic’s “Women Invent Tomorrow” campaign and the upcoming Inspire 2015 event, Connecting Women in Technology, being two prominent examples.

Role models are also hugely important — they show you the art of the possible. I know without the male and female role models I have had influence my career, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Ultimately, considerable strides have been made in elevating women into senior positions, but the job isn’t finished. To quote Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

Paula Neary is client director and Accent on Women lead at Accenture Ireland