International Women’s Day: parity or performative?
London, 29th May, London: Episode 12 of the Auto Trader podcast Women in the driving seat, hosted by Editorial Director, award-winning motoring journalist Erin Baker is released today. The series aims to rip up the rule book on the female-empowerment narrative by sharing personal as well as professional experiences, examining the space where both collide, and the challenges, fears and successes happen.
This episode our guests reflect on how networks have evolved and created safe and inclusive spaces in the workplace as well as the impact of role models and the privilege of paying it forward.
All episodes in the series feature a Podcast Pit Stop – a quick fire round covering the professional and personal including; Lark or owl? Circuit or circuits? Phone by the bed or phone downstairs?
Join Erin as she puts two community champions in the driving seat.
Podcast preview
Erin Baker:
[on International Women’s Day] “My take on it is... well, I really struggle with it. I don’t know what I think about it – I don't want it to feel like every year like we’re patting women on the back like ‘well done, you’ve had a very successful career and that's quite remarkable given you're a woman’.”
“For all those things where we have women focussed days: events, platforms, days, experiences and we get the pushback from men saying ‘well, you don't have a male version of that’ you know – the riposte to that is, to me, very clear... Once we get to something approaching parity... then we can do away with all of this.”
“On the one hand, yes we want networks to be a safe space... but at the same time you don’t want them to become echo chambers... If it's a safe space, then you should be encouraging debate.”
Kate Thompson:
[on International Women’s Day] “I’d hope in maybe 10, 20, 30 years maybe there won’t be a need for it but actually for now it is kind of a moment to look at where we’ve come from and where we’ve got to go to.
“Whinging without a solution is just whining. You need to be able to progress that.”
“When I became a head of business it was like ‘right, you’re a female head of business’ - I didn’t really want to be a female head of business, I just wanted to be a head of business.”
[on networks] “I started to see the benefits of it, and actually kind of going well, wouldn’t it be nice to have something like that for me when I was trying to do this.”
“Well, wouldn’t it have been nice if there was someone there to hold your hand and tell you it was ok, to support you with a little bit of imposter syndrome, those days where you were having a wobble and were sick of being the only female face in a particular environment... so for me it's a little bit of a, as I get older, wanting to pay it forward a bit.”
“To be able to support people coming up... I think that's a real privilege and something that I would have liked to have somebody [do for me]”
“Just don’t be afraid to start out small... let it grow organically and let it develop in a way that the people who are in there want it to develop.”
Sophia Murdock:
“Some men have that immediate response when you talk about International Women’s Day, ‘Why don’t we have an International Men’s Day?’ ...You do. But when you signpost that to them, they don’t seem to care as much.”
“I think we are a very progressive organisation, especially for an organisation that spans across automotive and tech – both of those not especially inclusive spaces.”
“Just based on the demographics of the company, the women’s network was quite a white space, and I think that that is definitely changing... more people are comfortable saying the women's network is a space for them where maybe historically they wouldn’t have said before.”
“It's so wonderful being able to have the people that you can reach across the desk to or see in the office... and anchor yourself to when you might feel a little bit lonely or isolated in that space of work.”
“There will always be spaces for women like that to support other women”
Auto Trader’s podcast Women in the driving seat releases new episodes every Thursday.
Notes to editors
ABOUT ERIN BAKER
Erin Baker is an award-winning motoring journalist and Editorial Director of Auto Trader. She writes a monthly driving column for Vogue, is a World Car of the Year judge, consults for Goodwood and hosts She's Electric, a national roadshow bringing women and electric cars together. Erin is passionate about narrowing the gender gap, both in the automotive industry itself and between car brands and female consumers, through more targeted language, marketing and experiences. She is a divorced mother of two boys.
ABOUT KATE THOMPSON:
Kate has been Head of Communications for Volkswagen Group UK since July 2023; prior to that she's held a number of PR and marketing roles over the past 25 years in Volkswagen and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. Just (!) over 50, she's now navigating an empty-ing nest in Northamptonshire, with two kids in their second and last years at uni, a husband on the brink of retirement after 30 years in the police, and a five year old Cavapoo. Rarely a dull moment, she lives for Sunday roasts when everyone is in one place, a walk with the dog, and glass of cold white wine.
ABOUT SOPHIA MURDOCK:
Sophia has been with Auto Trader's Media team for over 5 years as a Brand Partnerships Manager, creating online content for OEMs. She co-leads Auto Trader's Women's Network, promoting women's representation and experiences in automotive and tech. As music enthusiast, she is often tasked with curating event playlists for friends (and work!).
ABOUT AUTO TRADER
Auto Trader Group plc is the UK’s largest automotive platform. It listed on the London Stock Exchange in March 2015 and is a member of the FTSE 100 Index.
Auto Trader’s purpose is Driving Change Together. Responsibly. Auto Trader is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture, it aims to build stronger partnerships with its customers and use its voice and influence to drive more environmentally friendly vehicle choices.
With the largest number of car buyers and the largest choice of trusted stock, Auto Trader’s marketplace sits at the heart of the UK car buying process. That marketplace is built on an industry-leading technology and data platform, which is increasingly used across the automotive industry. Auto Trader is continuing to bring more of the car buying journey online, creating an improved buying experience, whilst enabling all its retailer partners to sell vehicles online.
Auto Trader publishes a monthly used car Retail Price Index which is based on pricing analysis of circa 800,000 unique vehicles. The same data that powers the Index is used by the Office for National Statistics to make the UK’s official measures of inflation more robust, as well as the Bank of England to feed the broader UK economic indicators.
For more information, please visit: plc.autotrader.co.uk
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