Quotas for females

I believe that in other (successful) countries there are quotas for women, and women are thus more equally represented in top jobs. Since girls and young women are successful in school and universities but thereafter become less visible in the higher levels of the workforce, I can't see what the problem is in redressing the balance in favour of women.

Of course we need the best person for the job but that doesn't happen. I listened to a programme on Radio 4 recently where employers were actively discriminating against 'women of childbearing age' - the only way to find these dinosaurs is to monitor their hiring statistics.

You need the best person for the job, regardless of gender. But we also need to make sure that education and child care make it possible for women to be in the running if that is what they wish.

The absence of women in higher levels of management and business may also be due the the fact that they do not necessarily rate these as measures of success - I know I don't.

This question was presumably provoked by this classic:
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10244637/Ukip-treasurer-Women-are-not-competitive-enough-for-the-board-room.html
If he had had an iota of common sense he would just have said that you need the best qualified person. And kept his silly mouth firmly closed.
In these days of concern about corporate ethics, maybe a tad less macho "competitiveness" might be a good thing.
More concerning, i was listening to a R4 podcast that mentioned that NHS England is all male board - this is the strategic board for the whole of England. Apparently there was a really good woman applicant who was blocked by ministers for political reasons.
The anti quota argument is persuasive - however the policy of having all women shortlists to redress the balance in the Labour party was a success.
My heart says actually yes, you do need to take some "affirmative action" if you are to get better representation. The down side is that you do see some tokenism in which people with little to recommend them get selected.

I am in favour of the person best qualified for the job - I don't care if its a man, woman, black, gay or whatever. This is what we should be aiming for, not having quotas for women. Yes I know it doesn't happen yet and I know there are prejudices but it is what we should all be pushing for.

This is the old argument isn't it? Point out one successful woman, black, gay etc who has made it and assume that the rest who don't must be lacking in something. An argument usually put forward by white, straight males but sometimes backed by the odd woman who has made it as proof of her superiority over other woman. Pass me a bucket.

Yes. quite, absent - the very same Jacqui Smith.

She was the only woman on the panel - nothing new there then.

Was that the same capable and intelligent Jacqui Smith who claimed for the hire of a porn movie on her parliamentary expenses? Was that the same capable and intelligent Jacqui Smith who claimed that a bedroom in her sister's house was her main home and the house in her constituency where her family lived was a second home?

Were there more male than female panellists on the Any Questions programme?