FT Pharma 2013: Panel discusses diversity needed in high-level positions

A Twitter debate was sparked yesterday after the Financial Times Global Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Conference questioned its audience about the gaps in the industry’s skills base.

A discussion followed about the need for science expertise, diversity and innovation in the pharma industry, but one of the big issues of the day was the number of women in pharma. Some 19% of the attendees felt that science know-how was the biggest missing skill in the industry, followed in joint second place by women, emerging markets and health care expertise, with 17% each of the votes.

Despite the high number of women in the audience at the conference, only two of the 39 speakers were women. When The Pharma Letter asked our readers if this was reflective of the industry as a whole, our Twitter followers told us the figure “would be shocking if it wasn't so predictable”, that it is “a parallel reflection on the career progression of women in science generally”, and a result of “too many women stuck at bottom to mid-level.” Eli Lilly told TPL that “gender inclusion is a top priority”, providing statistics which show it is the top company in Japan’s pharma industry in terms of the number of female sales managers.