Being a career woman is hardwork

Iwas lucky – I knew that I wanted to be a journalist from the moment I could talk. “Why?” was my first word, my mother insists, and by the age of 23 was working shifts on national newspapers in London. From there it was a short hop to magazines, where I climbed to the top. And once I got there, I discovered it was a long, hard slog just to stand still. It’s impossibly tough for women to break through the glass ceiling – we have to work much harder and earn less than our male counterparts (in England, my home country, women earn 19.1 per cent less*).

It is even harder to get ahead if you’re from Gen Y, the ‘geek’ generation, who know how to write code, but can’t hold eye contact, let alone a conversation. But guess what? It’s we working women who are to blame, apparently, as we didn’t have time to teach our children how to use a knife and fork and talk at the dinner table because we were too busy climbing the corporate ladder. Turn to page 38 to see why this generation needs help in learning office etiquette.

Then head to page 30 for the latest on a resignation trend. It seems women everywhere are dissatisfied with their careers and are looking for a fresh start.

We all need to help each other as female bosses are still a rare phenomenon – nine out of 10 board members are men in European blue-chip companies, and only three per cent of those firms put women in the top job**. Which begs the question asked on page 26 – will there ever be a woman in the number one spot in theWhite House? Enjoy the issue!