Data
Headlines
- A full profile of diversity in leadership in the WMCA area is not possible because of data gaps. Nevertheless, enough information is available to show there is a significant leadership diversity gap.
- Women tend to be better represented in leadership in the public sector than the private sector in the WMCA area, particularly in the NHS, local authorities and civil service where they are a large majority of the workforce. They are a large majority of the workforce in education too but tend to be poorly represented in leadership positions. Female directors of large, private sector companies are a rare sight.
- People with disabilities are very underrepresented across the board in both the workforce as a whole and in leadership positions.
- The proportion of BAME people in the workforce of local public and private sector organisations is generally significantly below that in the local working age population. It tends to be lower still in leadership positions.
- Information is scarcer for other groups, but some is available on people identifying as LGBT. There is a huge gap in information on people from working class backgrounds in leadership positions.
- More analysis would be helpful on ‘diversity within diversity’ or ‘intersectionality’, that is, the representation of groups that have two or more of potentially under-represented characteristics.
- There is also a need for more monitoring information to be able to evaluate better the impact of leadership diversity promotion activities.
This chapter draws together existing and newly acquired information on the proportion of specific groups and communities in the workforce and leadership positions. It provides as complete a picture as possible of leadership diversity in the West Midlands. Despite the patchiness of data, it represents the first comprehensive effort to audit leadership in the West Midlands across its public and private sectors.
After describing the data sources and identifying gaps, it looks at the position across all sectors where information is available of:
- Women
- People with disabilities
- People of BAME heritage.
- Other groups, such as those from working class backgrounds and the LGBT community, are also under-represented but information on them is far sparser though this is provided when available.
The data sources
This profile has been built from the following data sources:
- Existing studies conducted by researchers.
- An analysis of the government’s statistical service’s Labour Force Survey (LFS) by Hoque & Adam for the Leadership Commission in 2018. The LFS is the only economy-wide data available, but the sample size of the survey means that data is only available for the West Midlands region as a whole and not for the smaller WMCA area.
- Information provided by the NHS (NHS Workforce Monthly Data Jan 2018 analysed at a county level), the West Midlands local authorities, the West Midlands Fire Service and the civil service.
- Information from the education sector.
- Information on the cultural sector from the Arts Council.
- An analysis of the directors of corporate boards in the largest West Midlands companies.
Data gaps and interpretation issues
Building this profile has been hindered by several gaps in the data including:
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Different definitions of leadership positions in different organisations.
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Limited specific information available from much of the private sector and from parts of the public sector.
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Most of the evidence focuses on gender and leadership but with a growing body of evidence in relation to ethnicity and leadership. Less attention has been paid in research and in monitoring to disability and sexuality. There is virtually no evidence on some important under-represented groups such as those from a working class background, particularly white, male working class.
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The data and studies are limited in relation to‘ diversity within diversity’ or ‘intersectionality’, which is, the representation of groups that have two or more of the potentially under- represented characteristics such as BAME women or disabled women.
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The data provided here is mainly for a broad range of leadership positions. Greater under- representation may be shown if only the most senior positions are considered. This is suggested by the data on chief executive officers (CEOs) and directors.
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Little available time series evidence (except for the LFS though there are interpretation problems here) making it difficult to judge trends or the impact of external factors such as the financial crisis and funding reductions. These may have reduced leadership diversity if a de facto ‘last in, first out’ policy applies, consciously or unconsciously.
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Linked to this, limited monitoring and evaluation from which to judge whether policies and initiatives are making a difference.
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The data for leadership in local authorities was collected via a request sent out by West Midlands Employers. Six of the seven WMCA councils provided data (all except Walsall council), which provides the data set for the analysis below.
There are also interpretation difficulties. For example, definitions changed over time with the LFS requiring caution in interpreting trends.
In addition, the employment of some groups is concentrated in specific economic sectors. For example, three-quarters of BAME managers are concentrated in just three broad sectors: public administration, education and health; banking, finance and insurance; and distribution, hotels and restaurants. That means that changes in the number and proportion of BAME people in leadership positions over time may be the result of changes in the overall economic structure and not a result of leadership and diversity development policy and practice.
Nevertheless, it has still been possible to provide a broad profile of leadership diversity in the West Midlands despite these data difficulties.
Women
Looking at the regional economy as a whole, LFS data suggests that women have been under represented in leadership roles consistently from 2010 to 2016. In addition, the West Midlands is lagging Great Britain as a whole in terms of female representation.
Turning to the public sector, the Leadership Commission’s survey of Councils in the region showed that female representation in the workforce and in leadership positions is higher than the percentage of women in the working age population in six of the WMCA councils (but slightly lower in the WMCA itself). In addition, female representation in leadership roles is very close to that in the overall workforce.
The picture for the NHS is similar to local authorities but with greater contrasts. Over three quarters (82% for non-medical staff) of the West Midlands NHS workforce are female but the proportion in leadership positions is a few percentage points lower. This is the picture across all parts of the NHS except the Ambulance Trust.
Female representation in the West Midlands Local Authorities, Feb 2018 (%)
Workforce
- 66.1
Leadership
- 62.78
Workforce
- 71.66
Leadership
- 68.76
Workforce
- 67.82
Leadership
- 68.76
Workforce
- 65
Leadership
- 58.57
Workforce
- 61.2
Leadership
- 58.31
Workforce
- 66.5
Leadership
- 66.53
Workforce
- 43.07
Leadership
- 42.61
The representation of women in the West Midlands NHS Trusts (%)
Workforce
- 84
Leadership
- 71
Workforce
- 42
Leadership
- 29
Workforce
- 79
Leadership
- 70
Workforce
- 89
Leadership
- 75
Workforce
- 78
Leadership
- 73
Workforce
- 82
Leadership
- 71
Women’s representation in the Civil Service was higher than that of the population in in the seven WMCA areas. The percentage of women employees was the highest in the Dudley Civil Service, at 72.86%. Women employees account for more than 50% of the leadership in the civil service (more than 66% in Walsall) although the percentage is lower than their representation in the civil service workforce as a whole.
Data provided by the West Midlands Fire Service for its workforce based in the WMCA area shows that women make up less than a quarter of the whole workforce and a slightly lower proportion in leadership positions.
Women form a large majority of the education sector but a significant minority within the sector’s leadership. For example:
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In 2015, 64% of secondary classroom teachers were women (rising to 90% in primary schools) but only 40% of headteachers were (DfE 2015).
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At primary school, where men make up just over 10% of teachers, approximately 30% of headteachers are male. If headships reflected the workforce, 74% of heads would be female and there would be 1,739 more female heads.
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The gender balance of female CEOs in MATs (Multi Academic Trusts) is not representative of females in the teaching workforce. There is a significant gender imbalance on MAT Boards.
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These gender imbalances reflect gender imbalances in the school sector despite the fact that MATs have freedoms that could potentially enable them to address these gender imbalances at Board and CEO level.
Women make up 30% of the West Midlands Police (not including civilian staff) and 26% of leadership positions defined as sergeant or above. They do make up 50% of the most senior level of leadership however.
Diversity in the cultural sector plays, perhaps, a particularly important role in society. The Arts Council England’s (ACE) Equality, Diversity and the Creative Case (2018) argues that diversity is crucial to the connection between the arts and society because “it represents a commitment to the wider world,
and forms a two-way channel along which people can travel and find a platform to tell their stories”. However, diversity in employment and leadership in the UK’s cultural industries remain weak with ACE’s latest report stressing that despite small improvements, “aspirations are not always translating into meaningful actions or significant appointments” and that leadership plays a major role in this.
Evidence on leadership diversity in the cultural sector is sparse but in a report specifically written for the Leadership Commission, Birmingham City University analysed leaders in West Midlands NPOs (National Portfolio Organisations) from ACE’s data. This found that out of 48 organisations in total, 54% (26) are led by women, 16% (8) are led by people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Of the organisations led by women, 23% are from an ethnic minority background, which is much higher than the 9% of male leaders.
An indicator of the diversity of leadership in the private sector is diversity at the company board level. In 2017, women made up only 13% of the directors of corporate boards in the largest (by turnover) 1000 West Midlands companies according to a report commissioned by the Leadership Commission. Only 58 companies have perfectly gender-balanced boards. Over half of the companies (56%) have male-only boards, whereas 2 have female-only boards.
People with disabilities
The LFS data suggests that people with disability have been consistently under-represented in leadership positions in the regional economy between 2010 and 2016, and to a greater extent than women. Again, the West Midlands appears to be lagging the country and the position may have worsened in recent years.
The proportion of disabled people working in six of the WMCA councils (no data for Walsall Council) was much lower than the disabled working-age population proportion in all the council areas. However, the proportion of disabled people in leadership roles is slightly higher than that in the overall workforce, except for Sandwell Council and the WMCA where it was lower.
Disabled representation in the West Midlands Local Authorities, Feb 2018 (%)
Workforce
- 5.09
Leadership
- 5.14
Workforce
- 2.91
Leadership
- 3.04
Workforce
- 5.57
Leadership
- 5.78
Workforce
- 6
Leadership
- 8.57
Workforce
- 4.8
Leadership
- 3.93
Workforce
- 6.93
Leadership
- 1.74
Again, representation of disabled people in the West Midlands NHS workforce is much lower than in the local working-age population (2.92% vs 19.1%). Representation is even lower in leadership positions except in the Ambulance Trust.
Representation of Disabled People in the West Midlands NHS Trusts (%)
Workforce
- 2.60
Leadership
- 1.60
Workforce
- 5.54
Leadership
- 5.62
Workforce
- 2.44
Leadership
- 1.41
Workforce
- 2.98
Leadership
- 2.94
Workforce
- 3.82
Leadership
- 2.94
Representation of disabled people in the West Midlands Civil Service was lower than in the h local population. The percentage of the West Midlands population who were Equality Act core-disabled or work-limiting disabled was 19.1%, while the highest proportion of disabled staff was found in the Solihull- based Civil Service at 8.41%. Except in Sandwell and Walsall, where none of the leadership disclosed a disability, representation in leadership was either higher or close to that in the overall workforce.
A similar picture of under-representation of people with disabilities is shown in the data from the West Midlands Fire Service. They mad up 3.9% of the workforce and 3.8% of leadership positions. There was substantial variation between local authority areas with 6.6% of the workforce in Dudley though none in leadership positions.
BAME representation
BAME people appear not to have always been under-represented in leadership positions in the region since 2010 according to the raw LFS data, though they were for the last two years data was available. However, the Hoque and Adam’s study suggests that this was due to specific factors such as the size of organisations and foreign ownership. When these are taken into account,
BAME people appear to have been consistently under-represented in leadership positions, in particular in management positions.
The specific importance in the WMCA area of reflecting BAME diversity in the workforce and in leadership positions is shown in the chart below. The proportion of BAME people within the population of working-age was much higher in all the councils in the WMCA area than that for England except for Dudley and Solihull. It was three times higher in Birmingham (47.9% vs 15.9%).
However, within the 6 WMCA local authorities we looked at, BAME representation in the overall workforce and in leadership positions was lower than in the local working age population, although in Dudley and Solihull it is very close.
The chart also reflects the career progression challenges facing BAME people. In all Councils, again with the exception of Dudley and Solihull, the proportion of BAME people in leadership roles was below the proportion in the workforce.
BAME representation in the West Midlands Local Authorities, Feb 2018 (%)
Workforce
- 31.37
Leadership
- 25.47
Workforce
- 24.83
Leadership
- 17.57
Workforce
- 14.57
Leadership
- 11.85
Workforce
- 40.83
Leadership
- 10.95
Workforce
- 25.55
Leadership
- 20.24
Workforce
- 7.7
Leadership
- 7.71
Workforce
- 30.94
Leadership
- 20
Further but limited information is available on groups within the broad BAME category. For example, in Birmingham 11% of leadership positions are held by people of Asian ethnicity (compared to 27% of the working age population) and 11% are held by people of Black ethnicity (9% of the working age population in 2011). A similar picture is presented by Wolverhampton: Asian people held just under 10% of leadership positions compared to an 18% share of the local working age population while for Black people the figures were closer at 5% and 6% respectively.
This does not mean necessarily that Black people faced fewer barriers to leadership than Asian people within Councils as there could be other reasons for the relatively lower representation of Asian people. However, it does illustrate the value at obtaining more detailed information on diversity in leadership to more fully understand what is going on. For the same reason it would be useful to obtain more data on ‘diversity within diversity’ (sometimes called ‘intersectionality’) such as the position of Black women or Asian disabled.
The BAME representation in the West Midlands NHS workforce is very close to that in the local working- age population although there are variations across the different NHS trusts. Again, challenges to career progression may lie behind the proportion in leadership positions being quite a few percentage points behind that for the whole workforce with the exception of the Ambulance Trust, where the proportion in leadership positions is larger, and in Clinical Commissioning Groups where the proportion is close to the workforce but below the proportion in the population of working age.
BAME representation in the West Midlands NHS Trusts (%)
Workforce
- 18.22
Leadership
- 10.93
Workforce
- 5.44
Leadership
- 6.74
Workforce
- 15.49
Leadership
- 14.57
Workforce
- 12.61
Leadership
- 9.64
Workforce
- 18.82
Leadership
- 13.8
Workforce
- 17.08
Leadership
- 11.58
BAME representation in the West Midlands Civil Services’ based workforce was either higher or close to that in the population of working age in England (15.9%) but lower than the proportion in the local working age population apart from Walsall. The percentage of BAME staff in leadership positions was even lower than that in the overall workforce except in Walsall.
BAME representation in the West Midlands Fire Service considerably lower than that of the local population. In the Walsall Fire Service, just under 2% of the workforce self-identify as BAME. The workforce in the Birmingham Fire Service is the most diverse by ethnicity among those in 7 WMCA local authority areas, although, at 13%, is still much lower than the BAME proportion of the local BAME working age population. Representation in leadership positions is even lower than in the overall workforce except for Coventry. None of the leadership report that they are from BAME backgrounds in the Solihull Fire Service.
The proportion of people of BAME background in the West Midlands Police force (not including civilian staff) at 9% is just under a third of the BAME proportion of the working age population. They also make up 9% of leadership positions although these are all in the middle and lower levels of leadership. (Care is needed in using percentages when small numbers are involved. It would only take one BAME person to be promoted to the top level of leadership in the West Midlands Police and the percentage of BAME people at that level would jump to 17%).
Diversity in the cultural sector may have a particularly important impact on attitudes in society more generally yet the limited evidence available suggests that the sector is underperforming in this area.
LGBT
The LFS data suggests that LGBT people are as likely to be in management and professional positions as non-LGBT people.
The NHS is one of the few organisations that provide information on other groups. About 60% of the West Midlands NHS workforce disclosed their sexual orientation and 1.4% say they are LGBT. Representation in leadership roles is close to or higher than that in the overall workforce, except for the Ambulance Trust.
Sexual orientation in the West Midlands NHS Trusts (%)
Workforce
- 1.27
Leadership
- 1.55
Workforce
- 4.7
Leadership
- 3.37
Workforce
- 0.95
Leadership
- 0.85
Workforce
- 1.08
Leadership
- 1.38
Workforce
- 1.72
Leadership
- 2.04
Workforce
- 1.44
Leadership
- 1.56
In the West Midlands Fire Service, 1,311 out of 1,902 staff reported their sexual orientation. Overall 2% of the workforce identified as LGBT and 1.5% of those in leadership positions. The highest proportion of staff and of those in leadership positions who identify as LGBT is in the Wolverhampton Fire Service (3.7% and 4.7% respectively).
Barriers
Headlines
Barriers to diversity in leadership can be found at different levels - societal, organisational/institutional and individual.
Recruitment barriers need to be tackled to haven a ‘pipeline’ of diverse future leaders.
Barriers common to most groups include:
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Lack of self-confidence and self-belief partly as a result of institutional factors;
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A tendency to recruit and promote in one’s own image;
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Nepotism and an “old boys club” mentality;
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Exclusion from informal networks of communication;
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Stereotyping/preconceptions of a person’s roles and abilities derived from prejudices in wider society;
- Lack of mentors, role models and appropriate networks of individuals to provide social support and advice.
Barriers faced particularly by women include:
- Non-recognition of commitment to personal and family responsibilities;
- More subtle biases such as the requirement for career breaks if having children;
- The dominance of male leadership and male leadership styles.
Barriers faced particularly by people with disabilities include:
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Job security;
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Personal development;
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Career prospects;
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Perceived capacity to lead; and
- Travel-to-workplace difficulties.
Barriers faced particularly by BAME people include:
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Paucity of mentors, role models and support groups;
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Lack of understanding of cultural differences;
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Pressure to assimilate and conform to an organisational stereotype;
- A backdrop of institutional and societal racism.
Barriers faced particularly by LGBT include:
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Lack of confidence;
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Having to conform to stereotypical machismo;
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Banter which should be considered homophobic;
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Use of language which is exclusionary;
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‘Double marginalisation of people having two or more ‘underrepresented characteristics’ needs to be considered.
There is clearly a leadership diversity gap in the West Midlands although, as shown in the previous chapter, it varies across sectors, between different organisations and across different groups. The next step is to ask why this gap exists, or more pro-actively, what are the barriers that need to be overcome to close the gap. The Leadership Commission’s research sought to answer this question through a review of previous studies, focus groups of potential leaders, case studies of those who have moved into leadership roles and asking organisations what they have identified as barriers. Our findings are summarised in this chapter.
Barriers to diversity in leadership can be found at different levels - societal, organisational/ institutional and individual. In addition, many barriers to diversity in leadership positions are also evident during the recruitment process. Recruitment barriers need to be tackled to have a ‘pipeline’ of diverse future leaders. As one focus group participant put it:
"How do we create a pipeline of talent and diversity if young people are not coming through? We cannot achieve diversity at the top because we have not got the pipeline of the new talent right"
However, some research suggests that the major barriers experienced by women and other minority groups relate to upward career mobility rather than at the recruitment and job entry stage .
Many barriers are common to all underrepresented groups. We start by outlining these before moving on to barriers that are specific to particular groups.
Common barriers
The most common barrier raised at the focus groups was a lack of confidence and self-belief. As one participant put it:
“I see the only barrier being my own confidence. The thing that stops me from aspiring to a position of leadership is I don’t feel I would be comfortable in
such a position"
However although this quote suggests that overcoming a lack of confidence was an individual’s responsibility, many said it was down to institutional barriers such as company cultures and the current homogeneity of senior teams. Many felt that to progress they had to change and assimilate into the prevailing culture of the organisation and, sometimes, become the ‘company man’ stereotype.
Focus group participants thought that this institutional barrier was reinforced by four others commonly encountered:
- A tendency to recruit and promote in one’s own image (a risk warned about in most team building guidance)
- Nepotism and an “old boys club” mentality - people choosing people they have worked with before
- Exclusion from informal networks of communication (e.g. discussions taking place in the men’s toilet or in pubs)
- Stereotyping/preconceptions of a person’s roles and abilities derived from prejudices in wider society.
The last of these meant that you not only had to be accepted into the organisation’s informal structures and culture, but you also had to stand out.
“Institutional racism and patriarchy is cyclical – the more we are aware of the system, the more it stops us feeling confident. This then stops us applying, and therefore props back up our beliefs that we are not represented.
If you are a woman or an ethnic minority you need to push hard to get to the top, you need to be more assertive."
The tendency, often unnecessarily, to emphasise that a very experienced person is needed at recruitment or for promotion works against those who have been underrepresented in the past and therefore deprived of significant line experience, visible and/or challenging assignments.
Many case studies of people who have succeeded in rising to a leadership position highlighted how being allowed to tackle a visible and challenging project, and prove themselves through it, was central to their eventual promotion.
A further barrier identified was the lack of mentors, role models and appropriate networks of individuals to provide social support and advice. If you are disadvantaged by a lack of knowledge of organisation structure, processes and politics in relation to climbing the career ladder, then mentors and support groups are invaluable.
“Lack of representation currently makes it difficult to imagine anything different. It is positive that ... who is a woman and dual heritage is the CEO and that there is gender diversity in leadership – it gives us hope."
The importance of these barriers is reinforced by many have been identified in studies in the West Midlands and elsewhere which provide further evidence of the reality of all these barriers.