'Mums who can't attend boozy networking lunches don't get ahead', says CBI Director General, Carolyn Fairbairn

The Director General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has called for an end to the late-night boozy culture surrounding stereotypical networking events.

Carolyn Fairbairn has claimed that these events ostracise female executives who have children, as they are less likely to stay and 'bond', instead preferring to go home and see their families. Talking to The Daily Mail, Fairbairn explains that this system makes many professional women uneasy.

She said: “I have noticed in my career that quite a lot of things that are set up around business life, that happen outside work, don’t include women that easily. One example that is quite obvious is the business dinner.

“A lot of women – and I was one of them, because I was bringing up three kids – just want to go home. And we wonder why business dinners are 95% men.