Video: Women urged to take ‘riskier’ roles to break the gender bias

Women should put themselves forward for leadership positions and support other women to do so to help break the gender bias in the automotive sector.

That was one of the main messages from the Heycar ‘Break the Bias’ panel discussion, held in recognition of the 2022 International Women’s Day theme, with influential women in the automotive sector.

The panel also said that a more diverse workforce would help make car dealerships more inclusive for customers and help address the skills shortage the industry faces in transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs) with the Government’s 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans.

The Heycar event included an all-female panel made up of: Fiona Howarth, CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles; Katie Black, joint head of the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV); Kirsten Stagg, head of marketing at Skoda UK; and Moyosola Fujamade, national contract hire relationship manager at Kia UK, with Heycar’s marketing director Maren Coleman as moderator.

The panel shared how they have personally experienced or been witness to bias in the automotive sector.

Howarth warned that if women do not put themselves forward for more senior positions, the industry will have fewer female role models. 

She said: “Women are slightly more reserved in terms of being willing to take those riskier positions. We need to be braver, to take the risks.

“We need to back ourselves and back each other. If there's a situation where a woman in your team might be less likely to take that more risky job, but you know that they could, why don't you just reach out to them and say, ‘have you thought about putting yourself forward for that?”

She also said that the increase in flexible working due to the COVID-19 pandemic will help enable more women to take on some of the riskier jobs.

Having the support of male colleagues can also be instrumental in women’s careers, said Heycar. 

Fujamade said: “You need to be willing to put yourself out there to a degree. You might aspire of becoming a director but if you never tell anybody then nobody is going to open those doors for you.”

Maren Coleman, marketing director at Heycar, said: “Our panellists have all carved out fantastic careers in the automotive sector and show what can be achieved.

“But our discussion also highlights the need for more diversity in the automotive workforce.

“Breaking the bias is something we all need to consider and work on every day - both personally and collectively as businesses.”

Caroline Burnell, head of marketing & communications at eStar Truck & Van, was recently crowned the Barbara Cox Woman of the Year.

Burnell received the prestigious award at a special ‘Women with Drive’ event organised by Cox Automotive Europe to celebrate International Women’s Day.