Soapbox: What are the challenges for female buyers?
Writing in the Soapbox column this issue, Jane Gibbs, supply chain director at property firm Rok, states her intention to set up a networking group for female buyers and asks women in procurement what challenges they face.
"If you want to progress but feel like you can’t, what help do you need?
Are you interested in getting to the most senior levels in the
profession, or do you have different priorities? Do you have female
role models – who are they and why do they inspire you? Would you
welcome a women’s network in purchasing, and what would you like it to
do for you? Are you a senior female purchaser who would like to lend
support?"
Do Jane’s questions represent the major issues facing female buyers at the moment? Or has she missed out some of the crucial problems affecting you?
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Is there a need for a womens network?
Why create a natural divide and a woman’s only club? If women are worried about being overlooked and perhaps alienated from the top positions then surely they should be looking to integrate themselves with male colleagues instead.
Agree wholeheartedly with Adam Smith’s comments. The setting up of a girls only” club is utterly discriminatory and completely undermines the excellent progress made in recent years towards equality in the workplace.
Why should it be sexist?
If a network like this will help some of the talented and able women I’ve met during my CIPS training to advance into top positions, then it is a good thing for the profession as a whole.
I think the more networks offering mentoring and support to younger people in the industry, the better. We keep talking about how to encourage people in procurement, and this is probably a very good way to do so.
Can you please give me the contact details for the men’s purchasing network then?
Spot on Liam. First I assume that we do all agree that diversity is a good thing. Then we need to do something about it. I am all for this network for women, as I also support initiatives to encourage members, and everything else we are doing to be representative.
Of course diversity is a good thing but why segregate groups within a diverse field? In my view, women are doing very well already and it will only be a matter of a short time before things equal out, except maybe in the traditional manufacturing industries. This is mainly down to a fundamental difference between men and women in that men are more likely to be interested in activities that are perhaps in noisy and dirty environments. This is not sexist, it is a fact and indeed recognised at the nursery of my 4 year old son where even at that age there are visible preference differences between males and females. I believe that we now live in a society where man and woman are treated almost equally. I am 30 yrs old and therefore of the younger generation and believe that equality will be taken as read in the future so there is little need to set up support groups for particular member types.
If a woman sees a need for a woman-only network, she announces her intentions to establish one.
If a man sees a need for a man-only network, he wonders why no one has set one up.
But if the womens network is intended to bridge the gap between male and female inequality surely it is doing the opposite by creating a un-natural division in the profession.
Why should anything other than talent be considered important? Those that are talented will reach the top without intervention.
Well, yeah; that would be true if we were operating in a fair, equal system where nothing counts but talent and ability.
Nothing other than talent should be considered important, but I think you need to wake up to the realities of our world.