More Misogyny In The Boardroom

While we are on the subject of gender discrimination in business, let’s listen to the John Allan, chairman of that British supermarket chain, Tesco. According to Allan, “For a thousand years men have got most of these jobs. The pendulum has swung very significantly the other way and will do for the foreseeable future. If you are a white male, tough. You are an endangered species and you are going to have to work twice as hard. If you are female and from an ethnic background and preferably both, then you are in an extremely propitious period.”

Allan has tried to back away from the comments, saying, “It was intended to be humorous, a bit hyperbolic. The context was that I was talking to a bunch of aspiring non-executive directors, many of whom were women, and I wanted to give them some encouragement and, therefore, I used that rather colourful turn of speech. And the audience, I think, was quite amused and quite enjoyed it.” I’m sure they did.

Tesco’s 12 member board is all white and, although it has three women, none are full-time female executives.