The changing faces of today’s CEOs

2 mins. reading time

The CEO position is most traditionally imagined as a white, heterosexual, middle-class male. However, 21st century CEOs such as Bozoma Saint John challenge this largely backwards idea. Saint John is the CEO of Uber and is a young, black women who has suffered discrimination in her career, including her negative experiences when flying business class where she is often questioned if she is sat in the right place. 

I think that this makes it clear that in a largely diverse society, women in the BAME (black and minority ethnic) community are still being treated unfairly. Women of colour are still limited in their careers, where their opinions are disregarded in decisions and they’re consequently at a disadvantage. This is potentially because we are not used to seeing diverse individuals in such senior roles because they simply have not been given the chance yet. 

This suggests that perhaps as a society, we still are brainwashed by this traditional yet backwards way of thinking of business leaders. It is important for women and members of the BAME community to be given opportunities to advance their careers so that they can receive the same acknowledgements for what they do as their male, white counterparts. To do this, diversity quotas will play a large role to ensure that women and the BAME community receive the representation within business that they need and deserve. 

The fact that quotas may be the most appropriate way to help women and BAME members advance their careers suggests that employers are still unknowingly discriminating and preventing women and BAME members from accessing higher levels of organisational management. 

In such a diverse and multicultural society, it is key for today’s CEOs to not only be capable in their jobs but also to represent how diverse the UK is.