It appears that women are under-represented at a senior level in L&D. What’s going on to address this and what do we all need to be doing? David and Kate explore these points - and more - within this important conversation.   

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• How would you describe Fosways role in L&D and your role within the company?
  We are an independent analyst and our role within the industry is to look at trends and the progression across technology and talent.
  
  Our role is to help corporate organisations make better decisions, We also liaise closely with vendors to ensure we have a pragmatic picture.
  
  My role involves working across the teams and all content comes through me providing me with an overview of all that is going on. 

• What is the current conversation around women in learning?
  The statistics are not great for women progressing into senior management.  I have been involved in the conversation across social media platforms and the engagement was far and above what I was expecting, it has captured people’s imaginations and is continuing to grow as people join the debate.
  
  Research based on the worldwide learning and skills group and used job titles as an indicator; in support roles the split was 33% men to 67% women,  in practitioner roles 53% men to  47% women, mid-level 49% men to 51% women, senior roles 69% men to 31% women this makes clear there is a barrier and this is a conversation we need to have. Its opened people’s eyes to an issue that we didn’t know was there previously. 

• What are you hoping to achieve from this conversation?
  It’s about changing the statistics, ultimately women should be in those senior roles if they want to be and how as an industry can we support that through mentors etc.
  
  Mentoring is a great place to start and we are now looking at the practical steps we can implement to move forward. It isn’t just about women it’s about the steps anyone needs to take to move forward. 

• How does this conversation relate to the modernisation that is required in L&D?
  The important thing for this debate is that it doesn’t lose sight of the link to our profession.
  
  We are and should be open-minded to the possibilities, we can challenge our own thinking and desire for flexibility and learning.
  
  Faced with this challenge, the statistics, and this ongoing conversation about women in learning that we should hold ourselves accountable for our own development in this area and continue the conversation. 

BEST MOMENTS 

• ‘That’s real life and to understand that is empowering; we can share stories about ourselves’ 
• ‘It should be about lifting everyone up L&D is a great industry to be in because it’s such a positive place to be’ 
• ‘There were more people named David on the panel than women’ 
• ‘It’s about how the vision is executed within the company’ 

VALUABLE RESOURCES 

Fosway Group website 
Kate Graham Twitter 
#womeninlearning twitter 
Kate Graham LinkedIn 

ABOUT THE HOST 

David James   

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 

As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. 

CONTACT METHOD 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning?lang=en 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/  
Website: https://www.looop.co/