News: Business leaders unite to mentor female executives
26 March 2018
Some of Scotland's senior business leaders have come together to deliver a new mentoring programme to help increase the number of women in senior executive roles.
The initiative is headed by Scottish Power and CBI Scotland and will see eighteen leaders each offering mentoring support to three business women for a period of 12 months. The group has agreed to regular contact and feedback to ensure the programme maximises the experience for the women being mentored.
Speaking about the new initiative, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:
"I commend ScottishPower and CBI Scotland for launching this initiative and committing to narrowing the gender pay gap in sectors traditionally difficult for women to both enter and progress in."
"I am delighted to see that so many people in leadership roles across industry are pledging their time to help women achieve their potential."
"As the first year of the ‘First Mentor’ initiative has taught me, mentoring is a quite unique, rewarding experience: by sharing our experiences we are not just supporting a new generation of women leaders, but we are also learning from them in return."
"Equality for women is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s vision for an equal Scotland. As set out in our 2017 Programme for Government, we are taking concrete steps in ensuring gender balance is maintained on public sector boards and in helping women back into the workplace after a career break."
CBI Scotland director Tracy Black will act as a mentor and her organisation will oversee the programme. Ms Black said:
"While women are joining boards in greater numbers than ever, it’s often as non-executive directors. These are important roles but they are not the day-to-day leaders of UK firms."
"We need more women in the senior ranks of our companies. Mentoring is an extremely powerful tool in our arsenal – it gives aspiring women the chance to learn leadership skills from the best minds in business and helps them access the kind of networks that can too often feel closed off to them. That’s why we’re delighted to support this initiative."
Further information and a list of all eighteen organisations taking part in the initiative can be found here.
