Women don’t lack ambition, we just crave a different kind

There I was, in shock after the first episode of Industry, a terrifying must-watch BBC series in which thrusting young graduates keen to follow the money must prove their mettle at a big City firm.

The lucky ones will just have their wings torn off before corporate defenestration. The unlucky will perish; either literally, due to overwork, or figuratively, by selling their souls to Mammon.

Anyway, I was still hiding behind the sofa cushions when research carried out by the Higher Education Policy Institute revealed that female graduates are more likely than their male counterparts to get a job after an interview, but are “less ambitious” in the positions they apply for.

There is certainly a lot to unpack here, as a psychologist might say. The report says that young women are less confident than young men and so less likely to push themselves forward for more demanding roles. This will be true of some, of course it will.

But I would also aver that “less ambitious” is a pejorative (and thoroughly chauvinistic) way of saying “more interested in a decent work-life balance”. Fingers often point at women who work part time, especially after having children; they are seen as having lost the hunger and drive.

The truth is that companies with long-hours cultures are incompatible with family life. With any sort of life.

Hence the rise and rise of so-called “mumpreneurs”. The think tank Development Economics has estimated that by 2025, their businesses will contribute £9.5 billion to the national coffers. These women aren’t dilettantes. They simply want to be in charge of their own destinies and, crucially, their own diaries.

I don’t blame them for rejecting the macho presenteeism demanded by male-dominated workplaces.

These days, we can live to work. We can work to live. We can revel in water-cooler politics or transform our side-hustles into dream day jobs. Men need to stop confusing women’s lack of conformity with a lack of ambition.