Listen without prejudice

The title of George Michael’s seminal album, Listen Without Prejudice, imagined a world in which something as simple as listening to music could transcend race, sexuality and gender.

This seemingly straightforward philosophy continues to be the challenge of our times – not least in pharma. But ‘listening’ is, mercifully, happening much more.

Across our industry, opportunities for women have increased exponentially over the last ten years. Historically, however, the level of male domination across life sciences was frankly rather embarrassing. The vast majority of oil paintings depicting influential medical people from previous centuries almost exclusively immortalise men. You know, the ones with facial expressions so serious they could freeze your blood.

A cultural shift is happening, however – women are getting into leadership positions and inspiring the wider pharmaverse. But it is important to emphasise that this recalibration is not about box ticking, quotas or even equality. Equalness suggests that we are simply appointing more women and fewer men, and expecting the same result. In reality, bringing ‘difference’ into the equation – far from being a substitute for the old order – actually improves the wider ecosystem.

It’s also not about the exclusion of men either, it’s about the integration of long overdue parity. It’s about what we can do together.

You’ll see in the pages of this periodical how women are engendering change, doing things differently and offering a new panorama of perspectives. They are vital examples of fundamental change that must become the norm. After all, we can only really reflect the society we serve when we can truly hold a mirror up to it.