Women in Agriculture – around 50% of our staff are women, it’s common sense and our ‘normal’
At D&R, we’ve always had a large proportion of women in professional roles, but that’s not the case across the agricultural sector. Several of our staff attended the Royal Highland Show “Women in Agriculture” breakfast seminar – the marquee was packed and there was a real buzz. Fiona Paul, Alison Aitken, Kirsten Tait and Jenny Baillie agreed with NFU President Minette Batters’, conclusion that “the success of women in agriculture comes when being a woman in the job isn’t newsworthy.”
We believe it should be about capability rather than gender. One day the headline won’t be about being women in the top jobs but until then it’s good to have momentum and a platform that demonstrates women have the skills and ambitions and can do the job equally as well as men.
Times are changing, more graduate Surveyors are now female and we see that coming through our graduate recruitment programme. This year, three out of the four new graduates we have recruited are women.
Alison Aitken gained Fellowship of the CAAV with highest marks in Scotland last year. She and Sam Sykes were invited to a SAAVA training event to give hints and tips to those working towards the CAAV exams. The room was predominantly filled with women who had come from across Scotland. The balance is certainly being addressed in our corner of the industry.
It’s about being in the know, innovative and at the top of your game – and that’s not a gender issue.
