Questioning quotas or talking about targets?

Where: London. 

In partnership with Cass Business School.

Should we be more radical enough to increase diversity at the top of organisations? 

There is a growing consensus that the lack of women on boards is a problem but much less agreement on what to do about it. The low numbers of senior women is a reflection of an even more striking lack of diversity- of race, of age, of background- at the top of organisations. The scarcity of different perspectives has lead to a narrow outlook - when everyone;s thinking  the same thing, is anyone really thinking?

• Do we need a change in the way organisations operate at  the top level?

• Is the threat of quotas enough to make a shift in the way boards operate, or is something more fundamental needed?

• Are we too narrow in our definition of leaders, excluding anyone who doesn't fit neatly into to the box?

• Is there an appetite for change in organisations and how do we create momentum for that change?

The current focus has been on increasing numbers of women on boards, and how to develop women to meet that challenge. However, if the problem lies within the existing culture at the top of organisations, the change needs to happen there - the ‘Club’ rules need to be rewritten. 

Join panelists including:

Viv Groskop – Journalist, writer and comedian. Viv has written for publications including The Guardian, Evening Standard, The Observer and The Daily Mail.

Lynne Berry OBE - Vice Chair of the new Waterways Charity, founder of Public Benefit; an associate of Civil Exchange and former Chief Executive of WRVS.

Jane Christopherson – Managing Partner at The Curzon Partnership, a headhunter specialising in recruiting for Board and senior positions in FTSE 100 companies.

Dr Louise Ashley - Research Fellow at Cass Business School whose research includes diversity management and equal opportunities policies and practices in the UK professional service sector.Learn more about the issues which are affecting UK companies, the facts about proposed quotas and the boardroom diversity debate.

Dr Farhad Dalal - Psychotherapist and author of Thought Paralysis, The Virtues of Discrimination which argues that to create a fairer world, we need to enhance our capacities for discrimination, not stifle them.

 For booking information please email: events@inclusiveemployers.co.uk