<strong>At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, female attendance was at its highest ever at 17 per cent</strong> . Compare that to just 9 per cent a decade ago and you can see why the role of women in leadership was a recurring theme of the five-day forum. While women are getting to the top - two of the world's most powerful figures at Davos were German Chancellor Angela Merkel and International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde - they still have a long way to go. Just look at the statistics and you can see by how much. According to a ranking compiled by , the number of Fortune 500 companies run by women fell to a dozen last year from 15 in 2010. And in the UK, the percentage of women on UK company boards is 14.9 per cent - up from 12.5 per cent in 2010, according to a group called the " " which is pushing for an increase in the number of females on corporate boards. In a recent report from Reuters, the proportion of women on the boards of the top 300 companies in Europe grew to 12 per cent in 2010 from 8 per cent in 2004, indicating it would take another 16 years before gender parity is achieved in the workplace. Women achieving professional success is always a subject that gets people talking. And Personal Finance's last week did just with many of our followers retweeting the feature around the world. The story focused on a recent study of executive women's careers by , an international business school based in the UK, which examined the factors that help women reach the top and those that stop them. We also interviewed high-profile figures in the UAE, including Hala Badri, the executive vice president of brand and communications at du (pictured above), and during the research process one thing became very clear - the only issue stopping women reaching company board level is women themselves. It appears women are very good at creating a series of hurdles prevent them from "making it", whether it's family commitments, not believing in their own ability or simply being unwilling to "play the game" and compete with the old boys' network. As Ms Badri says: "We restrict ourselves because we have certain beliefs - because we are women we should stay at home and raise the children. This has all changed, but we keep on having this perception and these are our own beliefs - it's not something in the community or environment." So ultimately ladies, it seems making it onto the board is up to you. <strong>It's just a question of whether you want to or not.</strong> At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, female attendance was at its highest ever at 17 per cent. Compare that to just 9 per cent a decade ago and you can see why the role of women in leadership was a recurring theme of the five-day forum. While women are getting to the top - two of the world's most powerful figures at Davos were German Chancellor Angela Merkel and International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde - they still have a long way to go. Just look at the statistics and you can see by how much. According to a ranking compiled by Fortune Magazine, the number of Fortune 500 companies run by women fell to a dozen last year from 15 in 2010. And in the UK, the percentage of women on UK company boards is 14.9 per cent - up from 12.5 per cent in 2010, according to a group called the "30 Percent Club" which is pushing for an increase in the number of females on corporate boards. In a recent report from Reuters, the proportion of women on the boards of the top 300 companies in Europe grew to 12 per cent in 2010 from 8 per cent in 2004, indicating it would take another 16 years before gender parity is achieved in the workplace. Women achieving professional success is always a subject that gets people talking. And Personal Finance's cover story last week did just with many of our twitter followers retweeting the feature around the world. The story focused on a recent study of executive women's careers by Ashridge, an international business school based in the UK, which examined the factors that help women reach the top and those that stop them. We also interviewed high-profile figures in the UAE, including Hala Badri, the executive vice president of brand and communications at du (pictured above), and during the research process one thing became very clear - the only issue stopping women reaching company board level is women themselves. It appears women are very good at creating a series of hurdles prevent them from "making it", whether it's family commitments, not believing in their own ability or simply being unwilling to "play the game" and compete with the old boys' network. As Ms Badri says: "We restrict ourselves because we have certain beliefs - because we are women we should stay at home and raise the children. This has all changed, but we keep on having this perception and these are our own beliefs - it's not something in the community or environment." So ultimately ladies, it seems making it onto the board is up to you. It's just a question of whether you want to or not. Path:
