International Women's Day 2020: what women want

As part of a series of articles for International Women's Day we reached out to women in our network to ask them two questions:

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?

What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?

Karen Towler
Operational Excellence Manager at Tesco Bank
Marketing Society Scotland Rising Star Award winner 2019

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?
I want to see more young women get a seat at the table. As an industry, we talk about diversity in terms of protected characteristics (gender, race, sexual orientation etc.) but diversity of experience is worth a conversation too. I think more traditional industries often fail to take advantage of the abundance of hope, idealism, and inspiration that the those less experienced can offer. Seeing young women like me being heard would help me amplify my own voice.  

What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?
I want permission to fail! Sometimes the right way to support your less senior colleagues is to hand over the reins and see what happens. If you can accept the risks but do it anyway, then you’re opening up a world of successful possibilities. If the worst case scenario is manageable and doesn’t cause harm, then it’s worth giving it a shot for the lessons learned along the way.

Anna Dilku
Internal Communications and Engagement Manager at Aviva

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?
I’d like to see the industry’s narrative around inclusion develop beyond gender to recognise the diversity of thought that comes with an intersectional lens, as there’s huge diversity amongst women.

What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?
It would be great to see senior leaders engaging in more taboo subjects - such as race - to normalise conversations that will help to address the lack of diversity in the industry.

Emily Pearce
Marketing Specialist at Vodafone

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?
Opportunities. To grow, to see my peers progress, to see females work collectively to create powerful content. The ability to network within the marketing community only grows stronger as social media grows. Let’s use this to all of our advantage and take the opportunity to help, support and collaborate.

What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?
The best support those above can give is demonstrating trust in my decision making and giving me responsibility. This allows for growth both personally and professionally whilst knowing that I am supported in what I do, throughout my career.

Jael Umerah-Makelemi
Founder at Nubiart

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?
More mentorship and training programmes please! The first years of our creative careers are so important for learning, creating and collaborating. By providing us with these opportunities, they'll help to improve our future as well as the future of the marketing industry.

What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?
The industry is lacking female role models. I'd love to see more of the senior creatives recognising and showcasing the amazing female talent that is already out there. This will also inspire young females that want to get into the marketing industry, by showing them that they too can break boundaries and achieve great things.

Sophie Allison
Global Product Marketing Intern at GE Healthcare

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?
More female interviewers: helps calm the nerves when it's the same gender. More mixed-gender relationships - in and out of work - so it feels healthier and more natural in professional environments. Put more women in higher positions; there are usually more women in marketing than men, but men have the senior roles - even when they have equal experience and expertise. More women leading team meetings and presentations and more interaction needed from women - not just men presenting with no open discussion. More intern-focused workshops and training - and interns should be given more responsibility: replying to emails, organising calls/meetings etc. More of a gender split across different roles and business hierarchy: so results/decisions made are the result of a well-rounded group from different perspectives.

What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?
Men to recognise and value women can bring beyond the basic job. Men to be more open to asking for help and advice from women, rather than from other men. It's more common (and easier) to reach out to women for help and advice, as they are more open and willing to give, so it would be good to see more men do this too. Take more time to hear ideas from interns, as often we (young women) are overlooked until a male or someone senior presents the idea - then it is heard and praised.

Lynne Egwuekwe
UX designer and Digital marketer at triyoga. Currently one of Google UK and The Dots 50 young creatives to watch

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?
The marketing and creative industries have so many young go-getters creating their own platforms and networking with each other. It would be great if more established companies created space and platforms for young people to create and use their skills for professional work in the form of programmes etc. Also, I know many people who have been moving across the career ladder, but not necessarily up the ladder. By this, I mean they do many internships or entry level positions but nothing higher. Companies need to take a chance!

What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?
It would be great to have more transparency about how senior people get to their positions. This is so young people have more of an understanding of what they need to do in order to get in the same space a few years down the line.

Eilidh Judd
Communications and Marketing Graduate at RBS

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?
Organisations such as The Marketing Society continuing to put on networking events and learning opportunities for young women and men in the industry to have exposure to senior people. Things like this and opportunities to learn from other industries – what they are doing to be bold and brave in their marketing. Another thing I would say would help me is more training / support on overcoming problems that tend to affect many women (men too - but more common to females) in the workplace such as self-doubt.

What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?
In my short time in the world of work and marketing I’ve met many inspiring senior women and men. In my opinion, the best thing they can do to support young females in the industry is be prepared to give their time, share their learning experiences and have honest conversations. At the moment I feel like I’m learning the most from speaking to such a wide range of people every day; who have all had such different career paths to get to where they are now.

Caroline Camm
Marketing Analyst at The Value Engineers

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?
I think both conversation and initiatives are important here. We should be better at sharing the experiences, successes and failures of women in the industry who have been in my shoes. Tailored events and conferences that go beyond “networking” would also help to foster a sense of community amongst young women in the industry.

What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?

1. Feeling like you have allies above who genuinely care about supporting your career development is really important. Blocking out time for conversation is great but there also need to be tangible steps in place to help ensure development.
2. Create an inclusive atmosphere that continues to combat everyday sexism – whilst companies are a lot better at this in today’s world, it is important not to take it for granted.
3. Whilst the numbers of senior women are growing, there is still clearly a gender gap and more should be done to ensure women continue to make it up the ladder. Inspiration and representation above are just as important as everyday support.

Loren Aylott
Senior Account Manager at Leo Burnett

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?
This year I would love to continue hearing success stories from female leaders in the industry, helping me to understand how they have navigated their way to the top of a historically male dominated industry. I would also love to see more young women joining agencies in creative and strategic roles. To create a successful campaign, it’s imperative that the people at the core of the work represent the diverse audience our clients are servicing.

What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?
I would like the men and women above me to continue building an inclusive company culture at Leo Burnett London. Fortunately our senior management team is a mix of accomplished women and men, and within my team particularly I am already supported by intelligent and ambitious females who continually support me, giving me the confidence that I need to be successful in my role.

Melissa Lang
Senior Content Marketing Executive at BIP Solutions

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?
I’d like women to empower themselves and each other. The phrase 'be kind' has been preached by thousands - I’d like to see young marketers be kinder to themselves. We need to work together, put ourselves out there and fight imposter syndrome... sometimes it’s hard to see we're 'good enough', but we need to start. It's important we drive our own personal development, setting goals and reviewing them.

What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?
Better feedback. This is incredibly important for development - and receiving it on a regular basis is vital for women that want to progress. We shouldn’t be scared of receiving negative feedback – we can handle it! The myth of women being more sensitive is false, and it's damaging our careers. Feedback can help encourage us to take a course we've been thinking about, or to reach out to someone for support. If you're going to give your team feedback, be specific – this will help them bloom.

Maria Harrison
Digital Executive at Momentum Worldwide

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry? 
I would like to see a stronger focus on addressing the gender imbalance in leadership. Let’s work to create an environment where females can thrive, so that by the time young women, like myself, have progressed in our careers, it’s the norm for females to hold an equal number of senior leadership positions as men!
 
What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?
At Momentum, I am very fortunate to be managed by two strong female leaders in the industry, who both support and champion my professional development. Men and women above me can support my career development by offering learning opportunities – as qualifications and training are fundamental to growth.

Cassie Coyle
Senior Account Manager – Client Services at Starcom

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?
Things that I would like to see our industry do to support young women is inspire them to be curious about the industry and give value to the courage it takes to challenge it.

What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?
The most supportive leaders can re-energise a team, keeping the feeling of mutual accountability – we are all in this together!

Sameeha Choudhury
Senior Account Director at Spark Foundry

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?
Be pushed for equal opportunities and have conversations and training around conscious and unconscious bias.

What kind of support do you want from the men and women above you?
Build environments which nurture talent, no matter your gender. Provide opportunities to tap into great female mentors and be the voice for equal gender pay.

Laura Taylor
Senior Account Manager at Leo Burnett

In terms of progressing your career, what sort of things would you like to see happen this year to support you as a young woman in the marketing industry?
I’ve had the pleasure of working with many strong female leads who have been role models, and for me that’s key, working with talented people creates an environment for people to thrive. It would be great to see more agencies put an emphasis on empowering women to share their successes. Too often we see women not celebrating their achievements and for me it’s important that you feel confident to speak up and be proud of what you do. Ultimately, it’s about everyone celebrating and championing each other.