The “statutory woman”

I was very fortunate to commence my career in hospital pharmacy at a really exciting time. The term “clinical pharmacy” had just been invented and pharmacists were slowly emerging from the confines of the pharmacy department, and venturing out onto wards and participating in multidisciplinary teams. It was an era when you could really push and extend the boundaries of practice. Yes, it was challenging but it was also fun. I don’t think I ever really thought of myself as a woman pharmacist but more a pharmacist who happened to be a woman. I had some great mentors, interestingly mostly men, who encouraged me to develop my ideas and test new approaches.

I had always had an interest in education and training, and equipping people with the right skills to take on some of these emerging roles was something that I was passionate about. OK, I probably did go a bit overboard on occasions but I wanted to see the profession develop and flourish.

I still remember receiving the official letter signed by the Secretary of State for Wales inviting me to become a member of the newly formed Welsh Committee for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (WCPPE) and did not need to think twice before accepting. I really enjoyed being part of a group who were just as enthusiastic as I was about developing pharmacists’ potential.

It was at the time of the Nuffield Inquiry into the Future of Pharmacy and the team leading the inquiry had asked to meet with the members of the WCPPE. They asked lots of questions about the committee’s work and its vison for the future, then the chairman turned to me and said: “Tell me, what does it feel like to be the statutory woman?”

I gulped and think I said something like “I was under the impression that I had been invited for my skills and expertise” but the damage had been done. In terms of my confidence I had just had the rug pulled out from under me. Had I unwittingly been subject to positive discrimination? Was I really only there so that someone could put a tick in the gender equality box? Yes, I was the only woman on the WCPPE but that was nothing new for me as I was often the only woman serving on committees or working groups. What it did, of course, was force me to question whether I had been duped all along. Perhaps I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. I’d simply been included because they needed to put the tick in the box and that I really was just the “statutory woman”.

Fortunately my WCPPE colleagues were just as taken aback by the question as I was. Soon it became a standing joke and thereafter I was often introduced as the “statutory woman”.

However, my confidence never really recovered. Even when I became the first woman to be appointed as the Chief Pharmacist for Wales I still questioned whether I had been appointed for my ability or whether someone needed to put a tick in the box.

It is one of the reasons why I am opposed to positive discrimination and things like all-women selection lists. You can only have the confidence in your ability to do the job if you are appointed on merit. Yes, it does mean that you have to be better than everyone else but it is worth it.

C.M Wynne Howells