No women standing in Council elections: Jacqui Molyneux responds to concerns

In response to the concerns expressed by some members of the profession regarding the fact that there are no women standing in this year's RCVS Council elections, RCVS President Jacqui Molyneux has sent the following letter to The Veterinary Record and Veterinary Times:

Dear Sir,

No women candidates are standing for election for the RCVS Council this year, the first time in at least ten years. Although 40 per cent of RCVS Council members are women, this year’s poor showing reminds us not to be complacent and to ask what more we can do to encourage more women to stand.

As the sixth female President of the RCVS, I feel particularly passionate that women should stand. It is difficult to know why this year should have been any different to previous years, given we have followed a tried and tested approach in our communications and, if anything, have gone further in encouraging people to stand than ever before.

I would really like to hear particularly from women in the profession about what more we can do to make you consider standing for Council and understand better what is putting you off. I encourage you to email me at [email protected].

The other issue that we need to tackle is how we appeal to younger people to stand for Council, which coincidently may also help to tackle the imbalance of male to female Council members. The average age of elected veterinary surgeons on RCVS Council is 56.5 (for women it is 57 and men, 56); in the 56-60 age group there are only 29% women in the UK-practising arm of the profession (RCVS Facts, 2012).

What I can say to men and women, young and old in the profession is that being a Council member is a tremendous honour. The RCVS has responsibility for ensuring that the public and their animals are protected, it is a noble cause and one that is really worthy of standing up and being counted for.

Finally, please don’t forget to vote!

Yours faithfully

Jacqui Molyneux
President