To celebrate International Women's Day 2022, we're launching a new campaign... We Mean Business
To kick start our activities, today, 8 March 2022, we are hosting a Women Entrepreneurs Mean Business event to support female business leaders establish networks, inspire others and be inspired. Below, you can discover experiences and advice from board members, as well as gain insights to the contributions females and female-led businesses contribute to Dorset.
We invite you to share your stories of being a female in business to help break the bias by using the hashtag #WMBDorset to unite Dorset's females and highlight that together, We Mean Business.
Dorset’s business bosses reveal their ideas for empowering the next generation of female leaders
Women on our Board have extensive skills and experience in a wide range of industry sectors such as hospitality, house building, commercial property, brand marketing, digital apps and medical technology. Between them, they also contribute essential insight and expertise to Dorset LEP’s decision-making having applied their skills to lead or support charitable, environmental, educational and community projects and initiatives.
Arabella Lewis-Smith is the founder and Managing Director of branding and digital studio Salad Creative.
A graduate of the London College of Fashion, Arabella also founded and is MD of the luxury skincare retailer Pasture Naturals.
Arabella is ideally placed to inspire. Her career successes have led to her becoming a guest lecturer in business at Bournemouth University, Arts University Bournemouth and Bath Spa University. She is also a member of the female business owners’ support organisation Enterprising Women and has been a mentor for Young Enterprise.
“I aspire to use my position as a role model to create an environment that empowers the next generation of female agency leaders,” says Arabella.
“We bring something different to business in terms of collaboration, ideas and making things happen,” says Sara Uzzell, whose career background includes top-level marketing, IT and hotel management as well as a key part in the development of Dorset's Local Industrial Strategy.
Now in a commercial role with the National Trust, Sara says: “It’s important that we positively highlight women’s achievements and successes.”
Sophia ‘Puff’ Story is Director at mobile app company 3 Sided Cube. Sophia collaborates with companies and organisations of all sizes from start-ups to established international brands. She is a graduate in Advertising and Marketing Communications from Bournemouth University and has worked on the advisory panel for the International Fundraising Congress which supports professional charity fundraisers across the world.
By her own description, Sophia is fiercely passionate about helping to encourage more women to get into tech careers.
“For me personally, this starts at a very young age,” she says. “As a mother of two daughters, I can’t stress enough how valuable it is to inspire them to do anything they set their heart on. Celebrating courageous, bold, ambitious women is so important.
"Now, more than ever there are so many more female role models and it’s important we publicly celebrate them and showcase the successes to children in school to help inspire the next generation.
"The gap between education and industry at times feels like it widens, especially in the tech sector which is so fast-paced. So for me, we need to invest in that gap and bring the industry closer to education to ensure we inspire more diversity in certain sectors.
"By publicly showcasing these role models we should be able to shift the needle in a few years. It will take time, but it will be so worth the investment.”
Q&A with Sophia and Arabella
What it is like for women to do business in Dorset right now?
Sophia is quick to speak from first-hand experience: “I’ve been fortunate enough to work in a few places now, but when I relocated back to Dorset I managed to achieve a better quality of life, not only for myself but my family too. I love Dorset, and I love what I do, and combining those was a milestone in my working career. Being a woman in tech can be interesting at times, but the business community in Dorset is fully supportive and encouraging.”
"It’s certainly got better in the 20 years that I’ve been running a business" shared Arabella, "but quite frankly, there’s still not enough of us! What that does mean however is that when you do connect with another female Dorset business leader - and there are many amazing ones out there - it’s even more of a joyous and inspirational experience."
What advances or opportunities do you envisage for women in business over the next five to ten years?
“More seats at the table,” was the immediate response from Sophia. “I think naturally all businesses will be looking and assessing diversity as a priority over the next few years. Diversity is crucial to get to the best possible outcome. You need diversity to boost performance internally, stay relevant and competitive. I think the result of this will be more women on boards and in senior positions or starting their own businesses. More senior opportunities will open, and we should be grabbing those opportunities with both hands to inspire the next generation. This will help change attitudes and behaviours.”
What's your key advice for any women thinking of a career in Dorset’s key business sectors?
“Go and chat with the business or team you’re interested in," advises Sophia, "you’ll quickly see what an incredibly supportive, nurturing environment it is. There’s a close business community spirit in Dorset and while I may be biased, I’m incredibly appreciative and proud.”
How should we best celebrate women in business and make doing business achievable for more women?
"It’s so important that young women coming up through the ranks have visible women in leadership roles, both as role models but even more importantly, as mentors. We can learn a lot from a great leader of any gender, but as a woman it’s important to be able to observe and soak up what female leadership looks like."
Women in Dorset's labour market: A story of resilience through years of change and gaps in opportunities
Growing proportions of women are in employment in Dorset and are a critical part of the workforce
The 393,400 women living in Dorset make up 51% of our local population and form a critical part of the labour force in the county. In 2021, almost half (48%) of those in employment in Dorset were women.
The proportion of women in employment was on an upward trajectory over the years. The majority (73%) of working age women in Dorset were in employment in 2021 - 8% more than back in 2004, the gap between men and women in employment narrowing down to 6.5 percentage points - the lowest since 1971 when it stood at 41 pp nationally.
Women disproportionately affected by the pandemic
The past two years have reversed some of the women’s employment progress in Dorset. Compared to pre-pandemic figures from 2019, there were 8,400 fewer women in employment in 2021 - a 5% decline and 4 times the number of men affected – accounting for 80% of the overall fall in employment throughout the pandemic.
This is partially explained by over-representation of women in the worst-hit sectors, such as accommodation, food services and retail – some of these jobs now lost for good. But during the pandemic, women also spent 99% more time in unpaid childcare, and 64% more time in unpaid housework than men. When nurseries and schools were closed, women with children also faced the additional burden of managing home learning - at the same time as many of them were coping with redundancy and unemployment. 46% of mothers made redundant during the pandemic cited lack of adequate childcare provision as the cause.
For women remaining at work, maintaining work performance through successive lockdowns and school closures has come at a high cost to their cognitive, emotional and financial resources, making them more vulnerable to stress and burnout.
Self-employment and enterprise growth - a showcase of women’s resilience
In these challenging times, the resilience of women in Dorset shined through. With their caring and household responsibilities amplified, women have traditionally higher propensity to work part-time (46% vs 14% of men) and recently they have made staggering strides towards self-employment.
Self-employed women reached 21,300 in the past year in Dorset, marking a 60% increase from 2004. Many of them freelancers and business owners, women represented 43% of all self-employed in Dorset– up from 30% in 2004. According to Companies House 1,410 female-led businesses have also been incorporated over the past 2 years in Dorset with 110 of those over the first two months of 2022.
There has been progression with women occupying higher skilled, higher paid, more senior jobs, but key barriers remain
Careers in STEM: More women in Dorset are in high skilled jobs, but less represented in science, technology, and engineering, putting them at a disadvantage for the future of work. Almost half (45%) of women in Dorset work in high skilled occupations (management, professional and associate professional jobs) – a ten percentage points increase from 2004. Professional occupations are among the most highly paid and around a fifth (22%) of women in Dorset are employed in roles, such as engineers, doctors and nurses, teachers, accountants and lawyers, which compares to around a quarter (24%) of men.
However, women and men are still concentrated in different jobs and fields. Women are most likely to work in health or teaching professions with over two-thirds of these jobs being occupied by women in Dorset. In contrast, science, research, engineering, and technology continue to be male dominated with only a fifth (21%) of professional roles in these fields held by women. This is pointing to a significant under-representation of women in emerging ‘fast-growing jobs of tomorrow’, which are driven by science and technology and already show gender gaps globally, especially in the areas of data and AI (32% women) or cloud computing (14% women) that require disruptive technical skills.
The glass ceiling and a lack of representation in leadership: A higher share of men are managers or directors in Dorset (15% of men compared to 9% of women) and only a third of management and directors’ roles are currently held by women, who are more likely to be occupied in administrative and caring service occupations instead.
Across the UK, women have made some progress in breaking the glass ceiling to reach top executive positions and boardrooms, yet just eight of the CEOs in the top 100 UK companies are women. The Institute of Leadership and Management also found 73% of females felt barriers in seeking senior management and board-level positions, compared with only 38% of men.
A pronounced gender pay gap in Dorset: Although women’s wages in Dorset have increased by 15% since 2015, women still earn on average 22% less per week than men. The gender pay gap is more pronounced in Dorset than nationally (17% in the UK) and increases for women as they get older. The gap peaks among the ages of 50 and 59 when women earn circa 30% less than men.
Reflections from some of Dorset's female business leaders
“These figures clearly illustrate the multifaceted, evolving role of women within our society and economy. As the recovery continues and employers increase their hiring activity, Dorset LEP is actively encouraging companies to consider creating flexible and part-time employment solutions to high quality jobs at all organisational levels in order to attract the best talent and allow both women and men to balance ambition with caring responsibilities. For women looking to develop their business, Dorset Gateway also offers targeted support for growth. Such solutions will be crucial to reconnect women to the labour market and restore their health and wellbeing after two very challenging years”. - Cecilia Bufton, Chair, Dorset LEP
“It is fascinating to see the growing participation of women in the labour market. Yet the finding that only a fifth of higher skilled roles in science, technology, and engineering are occupied by women is concerning and could mean both women and employers in these fields are disadvantaged in a technology driven future. Dorset LEP and the Dorset Careers Hub connect employers, educational institutions and policy makers in a concerted effort to inspire and support more women not just into employment, but into high skilled-high paid jobs that increase our county’s resilience for the future.” - Rebecca Davies, Head of Enterprise, Skills & Industry, Dorset LEP
“The fact that so many women in Dorset have responded to the recent challenges by becoming freelancers or starting their own businesses is a testament to their resilience and ingenuity. Founding the Salad brand, design and digital consultancy – aged 26 and with a background in fashion – I am living proof that, starting with just passion and a creative spark, anything is possible. Whilst it is a bumpy journey, growing your own business can be the most rewarding experience and offers the flexibility and autonomy that women with conventional careers often crave. For aspiring entrepreneurs, looking for funding and support, Dorset Gateway is a great place to start.” - Arabella Lewis-Smith, Founder and MD, Salad Creative & Dorset LEP board member
“The barriers women are still facing when progressing their careers into management and tech roles can be discouraging. From personal experience, entering male dominated fields can be intimidating for women and trigger self-doubt and imposter feelings. That is why, I am passionate about creating a community for us women to share, inspire and lift each other up. I launched the Women + Innovation event series where women interested in starting their own business or looking to apply for a senior role in male dominated sector can hear the empowering stories of those women who have succeeded on this path and have claimed their voice. Dorset also has a thriving start-up scene and offers a creative environment for aspiring entrepreneurs as well as access to mentoring and funding through local councils, Dorset LEP and the Dorset Growth Hub”. - Sophie (Godfrey) Parsons, Co-Founder and Director of Aetha Design Studio. Innovate UK grant winner, Women + Innovation event series creator and ‘WE Mean Business’ keynote speaker
We Mean Business
We're incredibly proud of our female our board members who are essential to our decision-making. But until we have an equal gender balance, we know it's not enough. Which is why, through our We Mean Business campaign, we will ensure half of our board is female by March 2023, and better represent the voice of Dorset's female business leaders.
To help us celebrate, inspire and champion women in business now and in the future, we invite you to share your ideas, stories and advice to support us build a supportive network and represent the voice of Dorset's female business leaders.
We Mean Business | #WMBDorset
Women Entrepreneurs Mean Business event: 8 March 2022
In partnership with Bournemouth University and BCP Council we are hosting this event showcasing some of Dorset’s brightest female-led businesses in celebration of International Women's Day.
We'll hear from:
- Kelly Butler, Co-Founder & Agency Director at Podcast Labs
- Gina Felce, Chief Operating Officer & Co-founder at Talewind
- Sophie Parsons, Director - Aetha Design Studio
- Emma Worrollo, Influencer, content creator and writer at Playful Den
- Dr Lois Farquharson, Executive Dean at Bournemouth University’s Business School
We'll also be sharing details of funding opportunities and wider business support on offer to new and growing businesses in Dorset. This includes Dorset Growth Hub’s range of training, workshops and small grants as well as a new grant programme funded by NatWest – part of the bank’s longstanding commitment to support female enterprise in the UK and Ireland.
Contact our Dorset Gateway team to find out more!
We Mean Business
International Women's Day 2022
#WMBDorset #BreakTheBias #IWD2022
Credits:
Created with an image by StartupStockPhotos - "student typing keyboard"