By Lynne Williams

11 March 2025

It is over a century since the cries of “deeds not words” were heard from the Suffragette movement led by Emmeline Pankhurst and in 1918 under the Representation of People Act; women were finally given the right to vote…. subject to satisfying criteria.  Enter the snail…. then taking a further ten years until the second act finally gave women the same voting rights as men.  

And yet here we are in 2025 hearing the familiar call to action, this years’ International Women’s Day campaigned to “Accelerate Action” fuelled by the prediction that “full gender parity” will not be reached until 2158.  Am sure I am not alone in thinking this is astonishingly snail like progress in an era when change is now constant, has never been so fast and will never be this slow again.   

According to the latest global study by Ipsos for IWD; “women won’t achieve equality with men unless there are more female leaders in business and government”.   After 20 years in leadership, I have been fortunate to support this; encouraging, creating opportunities, mentoring, and now developing abilities and confidence of students as they become senior leaders, but is the dial shifting?  

At one level the answer is yes, if we look through the Glass Ceiling to some of the largest and most successful organisations; women now hold 43% of roles on FTSE Boards (FTSE Women Leaders Review Report 2025) and almost half of new board appointments are filled by women.   

At another level… bring back the snail…as we consider pay.  In 1968, the sewing machines of the Ford factory in Dagenham stopped as 180 women machinists downed tools in protest of unequal grading/pay in comparison to similar roles held by men, a fight that ultimately helped to drive The Equal Pay Act in 1970 – which set out to prevent discrimination in employment terms/conditions between men and women.   Yet, 55 years on there is still a UK gender pay gap.  According to recent ONS data the gap is on average 7% although decreased somewhat from 9% since the mandatory reporting requirement began in 2017.  Those holding more senior leadership roles are more likely to experience the gap…so while we celebrate the achievement of 43% of women in FTSE executive positions – the reality is they are likely to be paid up to 69% less than a male.  

If what gets measured gets done, then we might assume steady snail like progress will continue amid the ongoing cries for action. However, the Economists glass-ceiling index suggests otherwise with progress for women in work having stalled, mirrored by the less celebrated statistic that only 35% of leadership roles in 350 FTSE companies are held by women.   So while we continue to measure progress or speed of snails (0.03mph) our focus and efforts would be better placed on “accelerating action”.   

To be clear; I don’t hold any malice towards snails –in fact Charles Darwin suggested they are a superb example of adaptable life form …… perhaps then more adaptable than some humans!.