“I'm a believer in quotas” says women empowerment leader

Businesses should implement gender quotas, according to an award-winning leadership expert and leading global voice on women as leaders.

Dr Sam Collins, was named ‘One of the Top 200 Women to Impact Business and Industry’ by Her Majesty the Queen, and one of the Top Ten Coaches by The Independent. She is also the CEO & Founder of Aspire – a company that develops the female leaders and role models of the future.

Speaking exclusively to Executive Grapevine about the issue of gender diversity. She says: “I am believer in quotas for the speed of change.

“I never used to like the idea of quotas, meritocracy, positive discrimination and all that. But how can there be a meritocracy when they are so few women at the top? There has to be unconscious bias or sexism still in the ranks.”

Often an argument against legally enforcing the representation of women in businesses is that there isn’t enough qualified women. To this Collins says: “Quite frankly, this is rubbish, it’s more the case that women don’t want the top roles, not that they aren’t there or can’t do it.”

She concludes: “Quotas are good for business - which is driven by achieving goals and targets. It will make it an integral part of business systems and processes and force businesses to examine them. All businesses, not just the forward-thinking ones.”