Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to hear Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller, former Director General of MI5, talk about her time serving for the Military Intelligence. Eliza was serving as Director General from 2002 till 2007, a 5 year time span, during which the world was witness to the tragic events of the 9/11 World Trade Centre attacks and the London bombings.
At the end of Eliza’s talk, we were invited to ask her questions. Understandably, there were many questions to be asked around such a prolific subject. But one of the questions put forward was this one;
“What was it like heading up the MI5… as a woman?”
Her response was humorous, but I detected a glimmer of sarcasm and a sense that this wasn’t the first time someone had encroached on the subject of her gender in relation to her career, when she replied;
“I’m afraid I can’t answer that. Having been a woman all my life, I have no concept of what it’s like heading up the MI5 as a man, so I can’t possibly compare.”
If we were there to listen to a man speak about his experiences in the Security Services, would his gender have been brought into the discussion?
This is debatable, as is the reason behind why the question was asked in the first place. But, it does appear that although we have made great strides as a society for equality, we do still have ideals of typical male and female roles.
When we examine the UK workforce statistics, there is actual evidence of this; last year, The Guardian reported that of all the registered nurses in the UK, only 11% were male. And we see this same figure occur again in reverse when UCATT examined that only 11% of the UK construction workforce consisted of females. Is it possible that the question put forward to Eliza came from a perception, that a leadership position in Security and Intelligence was a typically masculine role?
I think the bigger question is, why?
Will there be a day when we see an equilibrium in male and female roles in society – where the mere thought of ever having a stereotyped profession and behavioural attributes based on your gender becomes unfathomable and we see a balance in these figures?
People’s views differ on this subject, but the question still exists; how will our roles in society be different for women and men in the future?
I’ve read numerous articles around this topic since I was witness to the question put forward to Eliza, many seek to point out the current injustices in our system…But it’s no longer just about women and men, or the roles we play.
Machines are entering the workforce and Artificial Intelligence has rapidly become the ‘elephant in the room’.
We can no longer deny the vast implications automation and AI is going to have on our career statistics. PwC recently reported that 30% of all UK jobs are susceptible to automation from robotics and AI by the early 2030’s, with the biggest impact predicted to happen first in roles that involve manual, repetitive and mathematical / problem-solving tasks, in sectors such as transport, manufacturing and construction, in which positions are predominantly held by men.
Does this mean that the age of automation is actually going to be worst for men?
Well, as it stands, men do face the greatest risk of unemployment from advanced robotics due to their most popular career choices. But machines and AI are currently lacking severely in emotive reasoning and social conditioning, meaning that roles that involve the capacity to read human emotions, such as nursing, teaching and counselling, are at the lowest risk of being taken over by robotics – positions that are predominantly held by females.
So, is this the rise of the machine, or the new age of female dominance?!
It’s pretty certain that the behavioural attributes and skills commonly associated with these careers, such as critical and creative thinking as well as emotional intelligence, are going to become more highly valued as machines begin to take over jobs that involve logistics, problem solving and manual/physical labour.
The plot thickens further when we consider that the global tech giants out there holding the patents to these machines are currently placing a HUGE emphasis on recruiting and retaining more females. Is there more to this than simply addressing the gender-gap that currently exists in the tech sector?
Whilst we can all conspire on what this means for our future, the definitive evidence that is available now all points towards automation and AI creating for the first time;
Not female dominance, but a gender-balance.
Rather than simply becoming unemployable, the large proportion of men at risk in sectors such as construction, transport and manufacturing will need to consider a new career path that embodies those traditionally perceived ‘feminine’ characteristics, potentially as nurses, teachers or even in roles that don’t actually exist yet. Educational institutions will also need to start placing more of an emphasis on the growing importance of emotional intelligence in securing a career. Every student, regardless of their gender, will need to be taught from the offset to value this over physical strength or even sheer intellect, which could quite possibly create an environment where gender-stereotyped careers no longer exist.
There are many different viewpoints as to why these gender stereotypes are still embedded in our society today, and whether this is down to nature or nurture. But I think it’s time for the human race as a collective, to start thinking differently about this topic and instead begin to consider the prospering relationship between women, men and machines.
The age of automation will bring opportunities to not only build a more equal society, but a society in which from a young age, we are taught to place the highest value on the unique humane attributes that differentiate us from artificial intelligence; conscious empathy, care and compassion.
Going full circle, a machine may never be capable of consciously comprehending the same humane qualities that Eliza needed to apply to her role as Director General of the MI5, whilst dealing with some of the most shocking occurrences of humans hurting other humans. But maybe one day, another female, having fulfilled this position for 5 years, will not have her gender brought into conversation as a topic for discussion. Maybe one day, as a more emotionally aware society, we will not even have reason to appoint such a profession.
Have we actually been our own worst enemy, and could the rise of advanced robotics not be such a scary prospect after all, but rather a chance to re-imagine a brighter more compassionate world?
