To mark International Women's Day 2021, we speak to author and businesswoman, Gill Whitty-Collins

Commit the name to memory, because Gill Whitty-Collins is 2021’s driving force in the fight against gender discrimination. Here, ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, we speak exclusively to Whitty-Collins about the success of her first book, Why Men Win At Work…

“Gender equality isn’t a trend that it’s interesting to talk about for a bit, and then we get bored with it and move on to talking about something else. We need to keep talking about it and focusing on it until it’s not an issue anymore.” Gill Whitty-Collins is our hero. Having spent a colossal 26 years at beauty giant Procter & Gamble (better known as P&G), her meteoric rise through the ranks would see her latterly take on the role of Vice-President, running leading global brands such as Olay and Pantene. But it was during this time, at the peak of her P&G career, that she first felt the sting of gender inequality.

“I’ll be honest with you—I haven’t always been a gender equality warrior. In fact, for 20 years of my career, I didn’t see the gender diversity problem and certainly hadn’t been on the wrong end of it. And then I saw it. And when I saw it, I saw it everywhere. Once I reached the Vice President level, I entered a male dominant world and culture, and I felt how it was limiting my impact and the women around me. That’s when I became a gender equality warrior—I started watching, listening, reading notes, and I vowed to write a book about it.”

And write a book she has. With countless five-star ratings, Whitty-Collins’ observations and actionable advice are clearly resonating with her audience. if you haven’t already read it, we think everyone, whatever their gender, should do so a matter of urgency. 

Born on the outskirts of Liverpool, Whitty-Collins was the youngest of three sisters in her Scouse, Catholic, working-class family. For as long as she can remember, Whitty-Collins had a profound love of language. Coupled with the steely determination she’d soon become known for, she went on to study Modern & Medieval Languages at Cambridge University. After graduating and with a young son in tow, she joined P&G’s marketing department and, as they say, the rest is history. 

Whitty-Collins thrived in the highly competitive environment P&S presented her. Until that is, she reached the senior VP level and began to see and experience gender diversity issues. She found she had moved from working in a 50:50 male to female environment to the 80:20 one in senior management. It was only at this level that she started to see and would be negatively affected by gender diversity issues, which would ultimately consume the career she had painstakingly built for herself. After experiencing it first hand, Whitty-Collins knew she could no longer sit in silence. She wanted to share her insight with the many, many women who still experience gender equality and diversity in business and our society, as well as enlighten men on the part they need to play to make this ending it a reality. Thus, Why Men Win At Work was born. 

So, what ground does this book cover? The MeToo movement? Not exactly, as Whitty-Collins reveals. “Don’t get me wrong; no woman should ever feel she needs to use her sexuality to get or keep a job. This is at the most basic, bottom level of the gender equality pyramid. My issue is that, in 2020, we should not need to be thinking about and discussing this stuff anymore. It’s a disgrace that we still need to. We need to be talking about the top of the pyramid stuff—the invisible and unconscious things that decent men are doing without realising it is holding women back from performing and succeeding. I believe the MeToo discussion is a place for decent men to hide behind. The majority of men, it gives them an excuse to say ‘I would never do something like that’ and ‘I’m not the issue here,’ and to not engage with the more complex issues. I didn’t the book to box me into just talking about MeToo; I thought, ‘let’s not just talk about why a minority of men use women as sex objects—instead, let’s talk about why and how the majority of men stop women becoming CEOs’.”

As such, Why Men Win At Work isn’t written for women and women alone. “You could say it’s written for men more than women,” Whitty-Collins muses. “It’s the opposite of one of those man-hating books. I like men. I love men! Women already know what’s in this book because they live it every day. Most men don’t know or see it because they’re just men being men, and it feels like it’s working for them. They’re not deliberately trying to hold women back—I believe most men, virtually all, are decent men with good intentions who don’t do or say sexist things. We need to make this clear—most men are not Weinsteins. But these good men are still doing things that hold women back. This book is written for them as much as women because we need them to action the much-required change. Because they have the power; women can’t do this without them.”

As for those who argue that gender equality has come a long way of late, Whitty-Collins believes that we’ve barely started on that long, winding, thorn-laden path. “We see one woman get a CEO job or be voted in as Prime Minister somewhere and we think it is job done. It’s not.” says Whitty-Collins.

“Look at the facts. We still live in a world where men have virtually all the top jobs. Women are pathetically under-represented in the top positions wherever you look. Despite clear evidence that women are equal to men in intelligence, competence, and leadership capability, and that businesses, organisations, and society would be stronger if run by gender-balanced leadership.” 

“Every woman who reaches a senior leadership level will face these issues, and they will be so powerful they will prevent her from getting a job she deserves, or even cause her to give up on her career altogether. I overcame many barriers in my life and thrived in doing so. But I absolutely did not thrive in a male dominant environment. That, however, is not what’s important; this isn’t about me. What’s important is that gender discrimination is defeating talented women everywhere, and that is an unacceptable waste that hurts us all. It defeats most women, even if nothing else up to that point has. I’ve seen it, I’ve lived it, I understand it, and I know how to fix it—so it’s important to me that I share my experiences and try to help everyone make the necessary progress.” 

Gill Whitty-Collins’ book Why Men Win At Work is available now at Waterstones.