Inspiring ladies

I went to a seminar at lunchtime on work life balance by some American female academics. They were tremendously impressive for a number of reasons:

- They spoke very persuasively without notes for about 40 minutes.
- Their research really resonated with my experience
- They answered questions effectively i.e. without avoiding the question.

I must admit, I judged one of them on her appearance immediately. She was a tiny blonde, maybe 50 years old and possibly had a facelift or botox. But when she began to speak she blew me away. Her accent was unmistakably American, but then she told us that she'd been born in a working class community in Wales, the youngest of six girls. Her dad had taken her on a train to Cambridge when she was seven and told her that if she worked hard she would get there. And of course, she did. She's now an incredibly successful academic and public policy practitioner.

There's a lot of debate about whether social mobility is increasing or decreasing. I don't think there's enough evidence to judge. Certainly, access to university is a lot more open than it used to be. But I still reckon that students from the top universities i.e. Oxbridge, will continue to dominate the judiciary, the senior civil service, and the media. And that's no bad thing IF access to these universities is totally fair and based on ability and not on your parents ability to buy you a private education.

I also think that how successful you are has masses to do with how much your parents are involved and interested in you. I grew up surrounded by jigsaws and books, and my mum and dad always encouraged me, although they never ever put me under pressure. (I was too busy doing that to myself!)