Drive for workplace equality 'achingly slow'

Incoming RBS boss Alison Rose has said women still faced too many barriers when starting a business

Senior businesswomen in Scotland have said gender discrimination and harassment is still a problem in the workplace.

Many say the drive towards equality is having positive results, but that things need to move faster.

The concerns came as RBS announced Alison Rose as its first female chief executive.

But Ms Rose said earlier this year that women still faced huge barriers in starting their own businesses.

Scotland is the first part of the UK to set a legal target to balance public sector boards, although challenges remain in the private companies.

BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme heard from senior businesswomen at an event in Edinburgh - Wacl Gather Scotland - backed by Wacl, which represents women working in advertising and communications.

Lisa Thomas, chief brand officer for Virgin and president of Wacl

"The pace of change is achingly slow.

"The sexual harassment issue is interesting because light has been shone on it, but it clearly isn't going away.

"There are old boy networks - a hideous expression - that still exist. We are still tempted to hire in our own image, and if you're a male CEO, you're more comfortable finding people like you."

"There are men who are supportive of a more diverse workforce but they have the most to lose and they have the most power.

"If a woman goes home early to meet the children from school there is a sense that she's doing what she needs to do and it's all a bit irritating.

"If a man does that they are celebrated as being great dads - that behaviour needs to be changed.

"I don't think I have suffered, but I have made some choices in my career that have made it easier for me to carry on working and continue to progress.

"I had my children late. I could afford childcare and I took very brief maternity leave. I'm of a generation where long maternity leave wasn't well established - certainly not paid for.

"I took three months for my first child and I came back to work after about six weeks with my second.

"I wouldn't say that was active discrimination, but it certainly I felt I needed to do that to do the right thing for my company but also my own career."

Roisin Donnelly, non-executive director with companies including Holland & Barrett and Just Eat

"I was always very conscious that I was a woman and I worked harder.

"After a short period of time I thought, 'how I'm going to be successful is to be myself - not to try and be one of the blokes'.

"The results of diversity speak for themselves. Companies with more diverse leadership have better results.

"I see across the board people are changing. Now the focus is on making sure you've got enough women as CEOs and executive directors - and that you've got a pipeline of fabulous women coming through to be the leaders of tomorrow.

"There's a lot of work that has to be done - I think mentoring can be great."

Juliet Simpson, founder and chief executive of Stripe Communications and chair of Wacl Gather Scotland (pictured on the right)

"Our business is 80% women and we have an all-female operational board - all of whom are mothers.

"It takes a lot of hard work to make that work.

"But when you're faced with retaining brilliant talent or losing them, I don't understand why any business wouldn't want to retain talented women after (having) children.

"I think businesses need to get much smarter at agile working - but they also need to get smarter at creating a culture where women don't feel guilty if they have to be somewhere else, rather than at their desk all the time.

"There are no excuses why that barrier can't be removed.

"We are now seeing some change - there are women at some of the biggest organisations finally - but the reality is that equality is still not there.

"A lot can happen in HR, a lot can happen on the floor - but it needs to happen at top of organisations and it also needs to happen with women themselves."

For the latest business news as it happens, follow BBC presenter Andrew Black's updates each weekday morning on BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme between 0600 and 0900.