Lack of menopause support holds women back from top roles

Menopause holds women back in progressing to the top and is an important reason why male chief executives dominate boardrooms.

That was one of the findings from a survey of insurance professionals as part International General Insurance’s (IGI) contribution to the Dive In 2022 festival.

Data from 2018 showed that 92 percent of chief executives in the UK were men, with an average age of 53. Insurance survey participants were then asked if they believed that the menopause—both perimenopause and post-menopause—may play a role in the domination of chief executive positions by men. Out of 169 people surveyed, 74.2 percent said “yes”, 24.53 percent remained neutral and only 1.26 percent said “no”.

IGI global head of marketing and PR Aaida Abu Jaber said that even after the results were published, some people were not taking the topic seriously enough.

She said: “Seventy four percent said ‘yes’—firms need to do something. Yet some people say that menopause is not an issue. When I told one of our executives—I’m not going to say who—they started laughing. It’s not a laughing matter.”

The wide-ranging survey, done in partnership with jobs and recruitment specialist Eames Group, produced results which showed the insurance industry still has work to do on diversity and inclusion. For example, the survey asked whether people were concerned about the lack of female representation for executive and boardroom positions in the insurance and reinsurance industry.

The question was answered by 158 people, with 43.67 percent saying they were “very concerned”. Another 35.4 percent said they were “a bit concerned”.

Another major issue was women becoming parents and the impact this had on their careers. Insurance professionals were asked “to what extent do you believe taking time out to have children impacts a woman’s ability to succeed at work?”. Out of 156 people asked, 66.7 percent said having children very much impacts a woman’s ability to succeed.

Abu Jaber said she was a big advocate of hybrid working, which would help improve people’s wellbeing. She highlighted the period of the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of employees working from home with positive results, proving to management that they could be trusted.

Diving in

IGI used its global workforce to contribute to the Dive In 2022 festival in several positive ways.

IGI Labuan sponsored a women’s rugby training camp, and IGI Labuan chief executive Nick Garrity, a rugby enthusiast, coached the team. More than 40 of IGI’s female employees took part in the two rugby matches.

“The idea was a bit different and it achieved its goal of helping women get involved in team sports, even male-dominated ones,” said Abu Jaber.

The other major contribution IGI made to the festival was a partnership with Harvard University Students Academy, offering young achievers 10 scholarships to an entrepreneurship course. “Harvard is a dream university for all students,” she said. “The academy is a student academy within Harvard University, supervised by Harvard professors. They teach the students of the world—in India, Jordan, Italy—how to market their creative business or entrepreneurship ideas.”

Looking to the future, Abu Jaber, who has carefully analysed the results of the survey, outlined the biggest changes that need to happen over the next five years in the insurance and reinsurance industry. Top of the list was a greater shift in gender equality.

The second biggest change needed was a shift in workplace culture. Employees want a flexible lifestyle and work-life balance, Abu Jaber believes. The next workforce generation expects companies to embrace this idea.

“These boardrooms are filled with people who have been together for 20 years. It is old-school. There is a change needed—a culture change,” she said.

“Another thing is technology adoption. Technology adoption makes life easier. People think it puts you out of a job, but it won’t.

“When the internet or phones came, people were not then without a job. It’s evolution but the insurance industry, as we know, is the slowest among all financial institutions in adopting technology.”

Summing up, Abu Jaber said diversity was key for the insurance industry to have successful companies and thriving working environments.

“When you include everybody, you have a fusion of ideas. It’s like clothes—if you wear the same jacket and trousers, that’s normal. But if you infuse them with something from Africa or India, you then have fusion wear, and that’s beautiful. It’s the same with projects and ideas. That’s much needed in the insurance industry,” she concluded.