As I take up the chairmanship of the UK’s Institute of Directors, I cannot help but rlect on the fact that it has taken 112 years for a woman to be appointed to this role.

　　接受英国董事学会(Institute of Directors)主席一职时，我不禁开始反思一个现象：这竟然是112年以来该学会首次指派女性来担任这一角色。

　　Although I have worked around the world in senior roles in the law, financial services and the nuclear industry, I am sure my most significant career opportunity came in part because I am female. When I was appointed in 1980, the US Securities and Exchange Commission had managed only one female commissioner in its 45-year history. I believe I was qualified, and that my subsequent performance justified my selection . Nevertheless, I am sure the reason for my appointment was that President Jimmy Carter wanted to address the historic gender imbalance.

　　尽管我在世界各地的法律、金融服务和核能行业担任过高级管理岗位，但是我确定我之所以迎来职业生涯最重要的机遇，部分原因在于我是女性。1980年当我被任命为美国证券交易委员会(SEC)委员时，SEC在其之前的45年历史中只成功任命了一位女委员。我相信自己是胜任的，我接下来的表现也证明了我是当之无愧的。话虽如此，我确信自己被任命的原因是时任美国总统的吉米?卡特(Jimmy Carter)希望解决SEC历史上性别失衡的问题。

　　Few men, by contrast, even consider how they secured a job. They just seize the opportunity and assume they must be able, which is probably why they put themselves forward in the first place. Sadly, this is not always true for women.

　　相反，男性几乎根本不会去考虑他们如何得到一份工作。他们只要抓住机遇并且认定自己一定能胜任，这可能也是他们一开始就积极主动的原因。遗憾的是，对女性来说并不总是这样。

　　Ask a group of schoolgirls to close their eyes and picture a surgeon, a chi executive or a pilot. Then ask those who visualised a woman to raise their hands: only one or two will go up, if any. It used to be that if a girl showed an interest in science, she was encouraged to become a nurse. These days she will, at least, be encouraged to become a doctor — but why not an engineer? Much more must be done in schools to make young girls believe that there is no longer any such thing as a “female” career path.

　　让一群女学生闭上眼，在脑子里想象一名外科医师、首席执行官或飞行员的形象。然后让那些脑子里想象出女性形象的学生把手举起来：如果真的有人举手的话，估计也就只有一两个。过去，如果有女孩对科学表现出兴趣，别人会鼓励她成为一名护士。如今，她至少会被鼓励去当一名医生——但是为什么不能是工程师?想要让年轻女孩相信世界上不再有“女性”职业道路这回事儿，我们必须在学校付出更多努力。

　　Although the attitude in UK schools is changing, there is much to do at primary level as well as in the field of business. The link between industry, especially local employers, and schools must be strengthened, with female role models introduced to young children. Maths should include basic accounting as well as profit and loss analysis, which would in any case provide a fascinating and relevant approach to the subject.

　　尽管英国学校的态度正在改变，但我们除了要在商界加大努力，在小学也一样。必须加强行业(特别是地方雇主)与学校之间的联系，将女性角色模范介绍给幼年儿童。数学应该包含基础会计以及盈亏分析，不管怎样这都会令该课程变得有趣而与人息息相关。

　　We also need to look at what happens after graduation. Specifically, we need to be tackling the issue of gender diversity at executive level. Too many young women still see the decision-making roles as the preserve of men who play golf together. This is why we need to focus on creating a pipeline of female talent for senior executive positions.

　　我们也需要看看毕业后会发生什么。更确切地说，我们需要在高管层面处理性别多样性的问题。太多年轻女性仍然把决策角色视为一起打高尔夫的男人们的专属。正因如此，我们需要为女性人才创建一个进入高级管理岗位的通道。

　　We are at a magic moment. The de-bate about the lack of female participation at the upper echelons of business is high on the political agenda in the UK and Europe. As a result of the forts of campaigners, individuals and companies, a rising number of women occupy oversight roles in the boardroom.

　　我们正处于见证奇迹的时刻。关于企业高层缺乏女性参与的讨论，正处于英国乃至欧洲政治议程的前列。在活动人士、个人及企业的努力下，越来越多的女性在董事会担任监督角色。

　　What we need now, however, is for women to become chi executives, not just non-executives. For this we must encourage more of them to aspire to a corporate career at an early age, as well as ensuring they can then progress to high-level decision-making roles. We should be seeking to excite our most talented young women about the idea of running a business, either by setting up their own or by climbing to the top of one of our great companies.

　　然而，我们如今需要的是让女性成为首席执行官，而不仅仅是非执行高管。因此，我们必须鼓励更多女性在年轻时就立志在企业中追求一份事业，也要确保她们之后可以晋升到高级别的决策角色。我们应该去激发那些最具才华的年轻女性产生经营企业的想法，无论是创办自己的企业还是在一家大公司内爬到顶层。

　　I want the IoD to be their first port of call. Our mentoring schemes and start-up support services are already helping the next generation find their way up the ladder. Our annual Women as Leaders conference is another example of Britain’s oldest business body keeping its eyes firmly on the future.

　　我希望英国董事学会能成为她们的第一站。我们的辅导计划和创业支持服务已经在帮助下一代女性找到攀上云梯的道路。我们每年一度的“女性领导人”(Women as Leaders)会议，是这家英国最老牌的企业协会牢牢着眼于未来的又一个例子。

　　Businesses themselves, however, must do more. They need to make sure women are given opportunities to enter senior management positions with profit and loss responsibility. Companies must spot and nurture female talent in pursuit of executive diversity at every level. They must also make professional pressure points more manageable for women with family responsibilities, which are as likely to include caring for elderly parents as children.

　　然而，企业本身应该付出更多努力。它们需要确保女性拥有进入高级管理岗位、担负起盈亏职责的机遇。为了追求各级别管理层的多样性，企业必须发现并培养女性人才。对于承担家庭责任(很可能既要顾全老人又要照顾孩子)的女性，它们也必须让她们的职业压力点更容易掌控。

　　Already, change is being driven from all sides. Companies are increasingly recognising the business case for gender diversity. A recent report in the Academy of Management Journal in America looked at 140 studies on the subject and found that more women on a board correlates with better profitability.

　　所幸，各方都在推动着改变。企业日益意识到性别多样化在商业上的好处。美国《管理学会期刊》(The Academy of Management Journal)最近一篇报告查看了针对该课题的140篇研究文章，发现董事会的女性越多，则盈利能力越强。

　　Demographic and social pressures are also contributing to this change. You will see this if you visit the IoD on London’s Pall Mall: men in their sixties have long been over-represented among our members but we have launched a category for younger entrepreneurs, which is much more balanced and diverse.

　　人口压力及社会压力也在推动着这项改变。如果你前往位于伦敦蓓尔美尔街(Pall Mall)的英国董事学会，你就会发现这一点：我们的成员中60多岁男性的比例长久以来一直过高，不过我们已经为年轻企业家推出了一个组别，它的成员更加平衡和多样化。

　　These changes, which rlect both shifting attitudes and the reality of modern Britain, are immensely encouraging to me. Given this promising pipeline of talent, it is time to move the debate from filling non-executive roles towards the less obvious, but far more important, promotion of women to executive positions. My chairmanship of the IoD will, in large part, be devoted to this cause.

　　这些改变反映出态度的转变及现代英国现实的变化，极大地鼓舞着我。有了这条前景光明的人才输送通道，现在是时候把讨论的内容从让女性填补非执行角色，推进到让女性晋升至管理岗位了，尽管后者没那么引人注意，但比前者重要得多。我担任英国董事学会主席期间，将把很大精力投入这项事业。

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