Dispelling myths about teenage pregnancy I’m delighted to share my journey from teenage mum to Chartered Accountant. When I was 10, I moved to Ireland after the breakup of my parent’s marriage. I had spent the previous ten years living between London and Nigeria with my family. This was a challenging transition for my mum. She had just left my dad and needed to figure out how to manage three children aged under 10 with another on the way all on her own. Unknown to us at the time, she had also been suffering from depression since she was a teenager. Unfortunately, it was all too much for my mum ..read more

Raising awareness of premature birth I’d always feared having children. The upheaval it would bring into my life, the worries that it would bring, and of course the fear of labour and all that it entailed!  However, after plenty of thought and discussion, I decided that I was willing to face those fears and start a family with my husband. In November 2013 I found out I was pregnant.  We rang in the new year of 2014 wondering what lay ahead, but with no idea just how things would unfold. I was due in July 2014, but in early May, at 29 weeks pregnant, I was admitted to hospital as my w ..read more

Raising awareness of and sharing my personal experience with hyperemesis Dear Gender Agenda readers, it feels very apt that I am posting this blog during the early stages of my maternity leave, the first in a series of blogs we’ll be bringing you focused on parenthood. Our recent Time to talk research found that 42% of professional women worldwide are anxious about the impact of starting a family on their careers, and it seems this concern is valid. In the same study, 48% of recent mothers said their new parental status left them overlooked for promotions and special projects upon their return ..read more

Where are all the women in tech? The lack of female representation in STEM and especially in leadership positions is a crucial barrier to gender equality. Women currently hold only 19% of tech-related jobs at the top 10 global tech companies, relative to men who hold 81%. Why do more women and girls not opt into careers in STEM fields, especially emerging tech? Early engagement with STEM lagging for girls The proportion of females to males who graduate with STEM-related degrees is out of balance. Cultivating an interest in STEM fields should start as early as possible. From an early age, behav ..read more

The sixth annual update of the PwC Women in Work Index shows that gains in female economic empowerment have been made across the OECD countries, but the pace of change remains gradual. Our index combines five key indicators of female economic empowerment: the equality of earnings with men; the proportion of women in work, both in absolute terms and relative to men; the female unemployment rate; and the proportion of women in full-time employment. As in previous years, Iceland, Sweden and Norway remain the top three performers. The largest movers – Poland and Hungary – both saw a rise of three ..read more

In March, we released our Time to talk research – focused on professional women age 28-40 from across the world, it made one thing clear – we are seeing rising levels of female confidence and ambition. Women are more confident and ambitious than ever. 82% are confident in their ability to fulfil their career aspirations, 77% in their ability to lead, and 73% are actively seeking career advancement opportunities. Furthermore, they have strong leadership aspirations, with 75% of women saying it was important to them they reach the top of their chosen career, namely obtain a leadership position ..read more

Did you know we’re seeing a tidal wave of organisations across the world injecting greater urgency into their efforts to tackle gender imbalances in the workplace? But with progress so slow, what has to change for women at work and how can organisations deliver diversity strategies that will drive real progress? To celebrate International Women’s Day this year, PwC is releasing our new research publication Time to talk: What has to change for women at work, as we aim to help answer this challenging question, shape the debate, and help accelerate change – both at PwC and in business at large ..read more

Today is World Mental Health Day and in the spirit of advocating for this day, and for greater awareness and de-stigmatising of mental health every day, I am choosing to share my personal experiences with a global audience both inside and outside of PwC for the first time via our Global Gender Agenda blog.  My name is Anna – I live in the UK with my husband Mark, my 3 year old son William and a very crazy puppy called Rosie. I am a Partner in the Assurance practice in the UK, a mental health advocate and I had post-natal depression after my son was born. My experiences with mental health ..read more

Sitting with my team in an auditorium in New York just over a week ago, I was proud, surprised, frustrated, inspired and humbled by the words spoken at HeForShe’s third anniversary event.  And I wasn’t the only one.  The first words, PwC’s Global Chairman, Bob Moritz, uttered when he stepped on stage recognised the work put in by many teams across PwC; “I am simply the voice to describe what we’ve done and humbly, we have much more to do.”  We have come a long way since aligning our existent diversity strategy with HeForShe three years ago, but there is still a journey ahead. &n ..read more

Authored by Stefanie Coleman There’s little denying the benefits of D&I. With volumes of research promoting the gains of a diverse and inclusive workforce, it’s no surprise we’re seeing more and more organisations invest in D&I to achieve heightened innovation, improved financial performance and to attract top talent. Why is it that despite these investments, many organisations are not seeing results? For example, PwC’s global D&I survey indicates that while 87% of participants identify D&I as a strategic priority, almost half (42%) still consider it a barrier to progression (f ..read more