What is #WomanUp?

#WomanUp is an action plan on female leadership published by WoW. It proposes a series of solutions to growing the female talent pipeline.  

#WomanUp aims to:

• Help businesses increase the number of women who take up leadership roles
• Assist women overcome barriers to career progression
• Enable business leaders – men as well as women – to create “gender bilingual” workplaces

The aim of the #WomanUp action plan is to move the narrative on from identifying problems about gender balance within business to proposing practical solutions.

#WomanUp’s actions are based on:

• An extensive research processes
• The learnings from WoW's development programme, designed to build confidence and leadership skills of aspiring female leaders
• Inputs from senior Irish business leaders and academic leaders.

​Small Firms Association member, Kenneth Carroll, founder and Managing Director of Carroll Food Services, inputted into the report from a small business perspective. For a summary of his interview, please click here. 

What is WoW?

WoW, is a voluntary leadership movement of Irish senior female executives established in 2015. A commitment has been made to empower the next generation of female leaders in business and using an evidence-based approach in all their activities. They came together because of women not progressing to senior roles at the expected rate. Confidence has been established as a key factor. During 2016, 27 high potential female leaders participated in the pilot programme. They measured the impact of what they were doing through surveys before, during and after the programme.

The main outcomes of the WoW Programme:

• Confidence levels among mentees were significantly boosted
• Culture was identified as a top barrier to career advancement
• The possibilities of balancing a career and a family was identified as possible.

Download a copy of the #WomanUp report.