“I have seen many mediocre men on the boards of directors” – Featherstone in the Telegraph

Yesterday the Daily Telegraph ran a long piece on Liberal Democrat minister Lynne Featherstone. The piece looked mostly at her previous ministerial job for equalities rather than her current International Development brief:

“I think that it [having a baby] is a bit of a setback to women because it gives an opportunity – whether it’s in commerce, politics or wherever you work – to men to climb the ladder faster. There is a period of a woman’s life – where she may need to take a break or work at a different rate.

“I have seen many mediocre men on the boards of directors…they get there because they had no [career] break along the way. And some get to the top because of who they knew.”…

However, Miss Featherstone did think that the Government was making huge strides towards helping women balance a career with work and achieve greater equality.

She said the things which would help bridge the gap would be better and cheaper childcare.

Read the full interview with Lynne Featherstone here.