Women: Not-for-profit?

Photo by Olivia Toye

More women work within the charity sector than men. More women give to charity than men. But women are in less top spots, and still earn less.

Some may think that this is the one sector that, in its innate morality, should be setting and upholding the bar for equality.

Think again. A fundamental. investigation shows that at the end of 2016 only 26 per cent of chief executive or managing director roles in the UK’s top earning 100 charities were held by women.

Almost 70 per cent of the UK charity workforce is female, yet women hold less than 20 per cent of top spots. There’s a conundrum of sorts, a paradox of representation. According to the Fawcett Societies’ latest research, the pay gap is also lingering somewhere around 16 per cent, higher than the national average.

But what’s the point of discussing the top rungs of the ladder without addressing the bottom? The gender split begins at entry level.

Charity Works is a graduate scheme run by Koreo, a third sector consultancy championing social change. In 2015 they had an overwhelming 6,500 applications for 140 places. With 75 per cent female participants, there seems to be an overwhelming desire to get a job that gives a damn – especially for young women.

Every year, hoards of graduates set about entering the third sector. Be it donning a bib and rattling a collection bucket, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or shuffling papers at a local charity admin desk (let’s face it, charity work has always been a big tick on the graduate CV).

The Charity Aid Foundation’s (CAF) ‘UK Giving report’ shows at least one quarter of university students were engaging in charitable activities in the last year. What’s more, over half the current sector workforce are university educated.

"The new generation wants to work with an impact, they care about the outcomes they bring" says Floree Zama-Neagra, who works on the Charity Works scheme and on the Good Woman network at Koreo. She says: "I feel that millennials don’t want to work for an unethical company anymore and we care more about what is happening in the world."

CEO of Koreo, Rachel Whale, says: "We know we’re attracting vast numbers of women in, even if you take a look at our graduate programme – then what happens…"

"Then you get into your 30s and I’m aware of many women doing what I did, I made a choice to have a family, that means if I’m looking for a chief executive role then I need a job share and that didn’t exist," Rachel adds, with an all too familiar look of acceptance.

So where do all the women go?

The answer, according to those who have beaten the status quo, is one of complexity. The issues that have plagued the ‘modern’ (cough) women’s desire to both work and pro-create are at it again.

‘Barriers to success’ is a term that has been stamped on the challenges that women face in reaching top-level positions. The Fawcett Society, Deloitte, and FTSE’s Women on Boards have all done the research to highlight the issue. Inflexible work, discrimination, and undervaluing of female employees – the findings aren’t new.

Helen Rice, CEO of Advising London, is no stranger to the restraints of being a woman on a success mission. "I had to take a job with less salary, a small organisation, on the front line and in financial trouble just to prove I could do the job," something, she feels, that her male counterparts have never had to do.

"It’s a different set of requirements for women and men in the sector," she continues, "They say they want someone who is innovative who understands X,Y,Z or whatever they are looking for. But when they’re faced with feisty young women they find it really challenging."

"Ultimately," she adds, "I think the established white male contingent in this country needs to take some responsibility to diversify, to what they really need – but I don’t know if they will."

Gender signs. Image by Vibora 123 on Wikipedia.(CC BY-SA 4.0)

The glass ceiling and its shiny oppressiveness, the incapability label that comes firmly plastered on any aspiring female, and the timely tick of the body clock. A case of "institutional sexism", says Viviene Hayes, Chief Executive of Women’s Resource Centre. Vivinne is a pioneer within the women’s rights movement, a recipient of an MBE for her service to women and has an impressive history in top charity jobs. She is outspoken about her passions; some may even say outrageous. "It’s not a job it’s a vocation, and the women’s sector at its best is a movement," she says.

The women’s sector in particular is exempt; they’re flying the flag high for equality. Nonetheless, she explains that the third sector as a whole is riddled with the inequalities and discrimination that come hand in hand with an "old boys club". Is it this stagnancy, which is usually associated with the corporate world, that’s stopping the progression of women?

But it’s not all doom and gloom - among the fiery rhetoric and depressing figures there is more than one success story. Leah Jeffcott was a recruitment consultant specialising in senior fundraising positions across the not-for-profit sector. During her time in the position at Richmond Associates UK, she and her colleagues were responsible for the placement of senior fundraisers at an impressive list of charities and cultural institutions.

She lists 20, including Alzheimer’s Research UK, King’s College London, and Tate, for this list alone 17 women were appointed in senior roles. She says: "I have been fortunate to play a part in progressing the careers of a number of highly talented fundraisers, both male and female." However, having completed the transition in to the third sector herself, she adds: "I take strength from strong female leadership and admire those the women that have progressed to positions of seniority whilst the executive remains patriarchal."

Further research from fundamental. shows that in the top 50 charities, based on fundraising income – just over 50 per cent of fundraising directors are female. That’s double the amount in CEO roles.

Speaking of success, there is one woman battling the norm. Picture an ambitious teen on her way to study English and History at University; a volunteer in a charity shop, and with a desire to become a journalist. Now, an impressively short time later, Rosie Tressler is the youngest chief executive of a UK charity at Youth Student Mind.

"Excitement, fear, and imposter syndrome," were among the emotions that swarmed the 26-year-old on receiving the news. A graduate herself, she was inspired in her youth by her parent’s tales of punk music-politics, and from school age felt the desire to make a change – like so many impassioned teenagers do. She utilised the traditional paths of participating in the student union and volunteering when possible, and now she joins the few other females at the top.

She is a rarity in the sector, where the majority of positions like hers are populated by the archetypal white middle aged man. Along with the other female chief executives in her field, Rosie feels that a lot needs to be done.

"We need to be investing in training programmes for women to build their confidence to help tackle the years of messaging we’ve all received that’s told us we’re not leaders," she says. She is modest in praise of her achievements, and awfully pragmatic about her path to CEO.

Rosie’s route was unconventional, and mistakes were made along the way – a short way may it be. But she is a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak looking landscape. "If you’re passionate about your work you’re going to feel the highs and the lows." She says: "Over time though, I’ve felt a bit more confident about how to manage challenges, and how to keep focussed on the bigger picture."

There is a bigger picture, and within that frame are changing attitudes in young women, a changing environment for socially led, small to medium sized businesses, and a revival of what young women really want.

The concept of ‘charity work’ has moved on from topless hippies, with their unashamedly hairy armpits and hand painted placards. The frivolity of the ‘activist’ has passed and it would seem women are leading in other senior positions. Not least, the intake from Koreo’s Charity Works scheme shows that the sector is inundated with socially-conscious young women who want to progress.

Perhaps a not-for-profit career seems a softer alternative to the corporate world, a jump from graduation to philanthropy? Get ready for a tough climb, says Helen Rice: it’s nothing short of "blood, sweat and tears".

Check out these images of women challenging inequality at London's Women's March...