Elika Taghizadeh: Life and times of a lawyer to be

As I sat amongst an audience of successful women from a wide range of professional backgrounds, I found myself deeply engrossed by some of the questions raised in determining why the glass ceiling is yet to be broken.

Are we asking the right questions? Are we doing enough to ensure women are getting into positions of genuine influence - and more significantly, do women still want them? In short, the debate centred on a question which admittedly at first I found myself raising one eyebrow over: Are women ambitious?

I was not surprised by the unified consensus of both audience and panel, comprising Professor Sara Carter OBE (Professor of Entrepreneurship and Head of the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Strathclyde Business School), Karen Darby (trustee of ‘Working Chance’), Deputy Chief Constable Steven Allen (Lothian and Borders Police) and Cynthia Guthrie (Joint Managing Director of Guthrie Group Ltd), at the 2012 Tods Murray Women in Business Network’s Ambition Debate Scotland, that women are not only ambitious, but are just as ambitious as men.

Since the debate I have spent a great deal of time assessing and reassessing my own hopes and aspirations. In doing so, I have found myself somewhat perturbed by the implications of what it means to be ambitious in today’s society and the stereotype that is often attached to driven women who aim to reach the top of their profession’s career ladder.

As a twenty-something year old who dares to admit that she wants it all and is willing to push boundaries with focus and determination to succeed, I know I may have to battle against an entrenched stereotype of how such ambition will be perceived and translated. Ambition, a thirst for recognition and reward for realising our achievements, are not only characteristically unfeminine and egotistic, but come at a cost which may ultimately outweigh the benefits of maintaining conventional priorities of most women, such as a commitment to a family life. Despite advancements made in implementing favourable social policies, prevailing corporate business models based on a structure that ultimately continues to balance the glass ceiling on pillars of inequality, impede women from exceeding to reach boardroom status.

In light of this assertion, a further inference can be drawn: woman’s motivations and incentives to pursue their ambitions are based on an assessment of the perceived likelihood of success in realising such endeavours and the value or return that can be expected if the necessary sacrifices are to be made. Whilst generalisations can not only be controversial but also dangerous, it would seem reasonable to question whether factors holding women back from breaking the glass ceiling can be attributed to more than just external influences. To put it bluntly, are women accountable, at least to some extent, for self imposed barriers?

Studies suggest that women are more reticent in promoting themselves, and whilst shrinking violets often fail to mirror the same levels of success as their competitive male counterparts, ambitious women often face further challenges in balancing (if not upholding) their femininity, avoiding self aggrandizement, and being negatively portrayed as having a competitive nature. But ambition is ubiquitous, and in business, an ideal that ought to evoke respect and recognition regardless of one’s gender, race or background. To be ambitious requires more than just the ability to think and dream big; it demands a commitment towards taking initiative and actively contributing towards the fulfilment of our aspirations. Yet women often face condemnation for portraying such attributes that men on the other hand, are more often praised for.

From a personal stand point, part of being ambitious is a compulsion for wanting to challenge myself. In my recent experience as a Trainee Solicitor within a commercial law firm, and as a newly appointed Director of Communications with Junior Chamber of Commerce International (Glasgow Division), I have never considered my gender as a prohibitive factor, far less a problem, in pursuing my personal goals. In my mind, the definition of ambition is having the confidence to reach for more than that which is in your immediate grasp, setting realistic goals, and actively taking the necessary steps to build on your skills to transform your dreams into reality. I do not believe gender has any part to play in this definition.

Promisingly, businesses are now far better placed than ever before in recognising talent, affording greater flexibility in the opportunities made available to women that will allow us to take a more prominent role at senior levels without sacrificing our essential self. Alongside changes to the workplace policies however, there needs to be an overhaul of gender specific perceptions of ambition, and a further call to identify and redefine what it means, and what it takes, to be ambitious.