The 50 Ideas that Shaped Business Today

Women as employees, consumers and leaders

The recent call by Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, for company boards to have at least one female member highlighted the dearth of women in Japan’s corporate sector. Even in Europe and the US, women still fill only a small percentage of senior board positions. 

Yet despite the frustration at the persistent gender imbalance, it is easy to forget that the presence of women has transformed the workplace in a short period of time. Of course, in one way or another, women have long been part of industry – and not always as labourers. In the 19th century, after an injury left her husband bedridden and unable to oversee the building of New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, Emily Warren Roebling managed the construction. ...