THE CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN CEOS – AND THOSE FROM THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY

Any of you who are aware of Amiqus and the work we do will know that we are huge champions of promoting diversity, inclusion and belonging within the games industry, and beyond. Our Business Manager Liz Prince founded the G Into Gaming initiative back in 2018, and last year Amiqus teamed up with Ukie’s #RaiseTheGame to launch the Empower-Up EDI platform.

?So, I was interested to read this study by the Russell Reynolds Associates, reported by International Business Times which revealed that: 24% Female CEOs Exit Within Two Years: The Glass Cliff Phenomenon and What Needs to Change. Amongst the findings is the point that “women CEOs… face harsher scrutiny and criticism when outcomes are unfavourable”. You can read more on the report, and the analysis of what needs to change here - https://tinyurl.com/42ep8v32

?Meanwhile, Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon also believes that ‘Female CEOs are held to a higher standard’, according to an article by Raconteur, which reports on her talk at the recent CIPD Festival of Work. “As a female leader there are more expectations of you in the public eye and there’s more attention in the press. There’s much more interest in who you are and how you’ve managed to give birth to children,” she said. You can dig deeper into Mahon’s thoughts on decision making, responsibilities and more here - https://tinyurl.com/mr2ntt6a

?So, which countries have the most women CEOs? According to The CEO Magazine – which also highlights that ‘women CEOs have finally outnumbered CEOs named John’ – the top 15 are (in order) Norway, Singapore, Thailand, Sweden, Taiwan, Hong Kong, France, China, Ireland, Philippines, Poland, Belgium, Finland, United Kingdom and Australia. To read more, and to find out which countries have the least number of women CEOs, click here - https://tinyurl.com/4pfz7jt5

?From John, to Simon and Andrew… and the news that there are more CEOs in the UK called Simon or Andrew than there are women CEOs, according to Legal and General Retail boss Ali Crossley. Money Marketing reports on her talk at last month’s Women in Protection conference where she said that women are still “under-represented and under-appreciated”: Crossley outlined three challenges women faced as they make progress in their career journey. They include the authority gap, the achievement penalty and what she described as the ‘menopause scrapheap’. Find out more here - https://tinyurl.com/2h3btfu4

?Meanwhile, from women to the LGBTQ+ community, and during this Pride month, here’s a great account by Anthony Watson CBE, the founder and group chief executive of The Bank of London in CityAM – ‘I’m the only openly gay CEO in UK banking’. You can read his account here - https://tinyurl.com/4zw5fejk

?Are you a woman or from an under-represented group and have faced challenges as a business leader? Or an ally who has witnessed the obstacles facing these individuals? I’d love to hear from you!

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