"Change is about identifying the mechanism that delivers"

"Change is about identifying the mechanism that delivers" To celebrate International Women's Day on 8 March, Professor Claire Annesley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Equalities and Diversity, suggests we consider being bold by changing the rules. I am reading Harriet Harman's autobiography and it's such a clear reminder of how far we have come since the 1970s in the sense of the opportunities young girls and women are presented with. But we have got to be very aware that not all women are benefiting, and there are still a lot of issues that we need to address. Sometimes I think that we go over the same ground, so we have incremental solutions to some problems when what we have to do is be more ambitious about what we want to achieve. Being bold for change means changing the rules - doing something that makes a difference rather than just waiting for cultural change. Change is about identifying a mechanism that is really going to deliver. In my research in women in politics there's a frustration in that we never see a real change in the numbers of women getting into parliament or cabinet.