ABSTRACT
The number of women in management in the UK has grown and continues to grow. Women in the labour force face inequality and it is still women, rather than men who take time out of paid work when they have children and who then suffer the “parenthood penalty” on their return to work. A number of researchers in the UK have suggested that women’s entrepreneurship can be seen as a means of escaping the persistent inequalities and the occupational confines of the labour market. A nationwide voluntary business campaign, established in 1991, called Opportunity Now, set key goals for tackling inequality through a broad-based business-driven policy approach. The model of the successful manager is male and while these stereotypes remain, they succeed in perpetuating the dominant place for men in management. Management cultures are described as masculine, characterized by long work hours, bullying and harassment and lacking in family-friendly policies.
