Create your own boardroom position

While I was a child in 1960’s and 70’s London, girls played with dolls, baby dolls such as tiny tears were popular, dolls that could drink from a bottle and wet a pretend nappy, just like a real baby. If they were lucky, they had a dolls pram and maybe a cot for the doll and tea sets and dolls houses with miniature furniture while boys played with construction kits such as Meccano and train sets, cars and toy soldiers. Games became popular such as Ker Plunk , Frustration and Connect 4, art and design toys were becoming popular with Etch-a-sketch , Sketch - a - graph and Spirograph. There was Play dough, much more fun and easier to use than hard plasticine.There were no game boys and laptops but there were visual toys that were becoming more advanced and common in the home such as toy home projectors and view master with its reels of pictures. Games were beginning to show the beginnings of technology such as the amazing Magic Robot that you asked it a question and it pointed to the right answer

 Today In 1959 Barbie was born, already grown up and with a trendy wardrobe of clothes and brush- able hair!!! Barbie was just what young girls wanted to look like, the perfect body …. Barbie was not a baby doll, but a doll to be a friend and act out dreams with.

Gradually society, while there is still a long way to go, was giving women a new image and they had a voice with a new message …They were no longer largely limited in their business options to something in an office or Woolworths ..or maybe teaching or nursing if they had the academic requirements for training.

However, while the number of professional women has certainly increased, they still have limits in the areas of promotion to management and in salaries. This is especially true of women with children and disabled women. Confucius once said, Ignorance is a woman’s virtue, but you won’t sell that to any woman today.

Maybe not as glamourous as being seen in the boardroom, but certainly capable of creating a high salary and being the boss without even the need for a degree, women can and should think about beginning an on line business. Think about what interests you, what your skills and talents are and create a business ...you think you don’t know how? There is plenty of advice available, on line and often from your local council, job centre and voluntary organisations.

Valerie Hartland