Why I won’t accept discrimination and challenge it

We all have defining moments as women in our professional careers. My first was as a shy 17-year-old at my interview for medical school. The surgical professor on an all-male panel asked me why I should be allocated a place when I would most probably be pregnant in a few years’ time.

As chief medical officer for Charles Taylor Assistance, today I lead a team of more than 80 doctors, nurses and paramedics. Together, we provide medical assistance and repatriation to travel and international health insurance policyholders all over the world.

When I recruit a new member of the team who may be a parent or carer, I look at what’s going to be a sustainable work life balance for them.

Our open and inclusive workforce is testament to the fact that we take gender equality seriously: no-one is discriminated against on the basis of gender, age or personal choice, and our unconscious bias training is an important part of the recruitment process.

Creating equal development opportunities for all is also important, for instance by supporting staff of all ages, genders and orientations to complete professional certifications in insurance or business, such as Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusting qualifications or Chartered Insurance Institute exams. 

The company helps them do this while still fulfilling their roles within the business and balancing their work and home lives.

We also value flexible working opportunities. For instance, when I recruit a new member of the team who may be a parent or carer, I look at what’s going to be a sustainable work life balance for them. If, for example, they need to do a school run or have caring duties at certain times, we try to fit that in. 

Irrespective of gender, it’s all about working out how we can accommodate their needs without compromising the needs of our business, clients and customers. 

It’s encouraging to see there are a few strong and capable women now leading insurance.

We always focus on an inclusive environment throughout the office, bolstered by (for instance) recent anti-bullying and anti-harassment programmes. 

In an office setting, it’s important to get people to stand back and think about, for example, how a throwaway comment may have been interpreted, the impact it may have and what can be done about it afterwards to rectify any hurt or ill-feeling.

I’d hope younger women would see that if I’ve got to the top of my career in a male-dominated world, they can be similarly ambitious and shouldn’t be held back. 

I think an important part of driving gender equality is to be a female role model and I hope younger women may also feel encouraged by the fact that I give talks at industry conferences and meetings, whilst also sitting on our operational senior management team and steering committee.

One of the ways Charles Taylor Assistance measures gender equality progress is by contributing to the annual gender pay report, and this shows we have good controls and systems in place to ensure men and women are treated equally when it comes to pay. 

Many of our teams show very good gender balance or a predominance of women, particularly in middle management roles.

In the world as a whole, there’s still a need for significant gender equality, but it’s encouraging to see there are a few strong and capable women now leading insurance, corporate companies and medical institutions. 

That ceiling for women still exists in some places, but we shouldn’t let it limit our potential. I have never accepted discrimination and I never will. We have to keep on challenging it.