Against All Odds – How To Break Through Gendered Ceilings, Shared By Baroness Scotland.

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When sixth ever Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Baroness Patricia Scotland, entered the legal profession - which at the time was 93% male, white and protestant - the odds were already heavily stacked against her.

So how did she do it? The key was utter self-belief. This was value was almost mandatory in her sizeable close knit family, who had coined names for the children – her seven brothers were known as ‘The Magnificent Seven’ while the sisters called the ‘stars’ of the family. “Plus, being 10th in a pack out of 12 meant I could never complain… everyone else had seen worse,” she tells me.

Ironically, the journey to become Secretary-General began when she was advocating on the behalf of another potential candidate. A few key figures she approached asked her why she was not going for the role herself, which set her on the ambitious path she was to follow. This group included the previous the Prime Minister of Antigua Baldwin Spencer, the then PM of Barbados, Freundel Stuart alongside his political opponent at the time and leader of the opposition Mia Mottley.

This view of the world was shaped as early as six years old. She tells me: “when I saw images from South Africa of violence and oppression, I asked my father why black people were being shot and my father directly asked me back, what I was going to do about it.” She was fortunate enough to catch the attention of fantastic judges like Johan Stein, once a member of the ANC, who had come to the UK to practice law. He and many others gave her the personal support and encouragement that she could become a QC much earlier that she ever believed possible.She describes the Guyanese Elections as a key highlight of her last six years as Secretary General .

 

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