International Women’s Day 2017: Celebrating Women in Whitehall
3 years after Her Majesty became Queen, the Civil Service appointed its first ever female Permanent Secretary, Baroness Evelyn Sharp.
Evelyn entered the Fast Stream in the second year in which women were allowed to apply — 1926 — and was appointed as a Permanent Secretary in 1955. Evelyn Sharp remains the longest serving female permanent secretary, with eleven years at the top of her department.
In the 45 years that followed Evelyn’s appointment, only three further women were appointed as Permanent Secretaries.
Progress was slow, but from 1990 onwards the story is more positive
For a brief moment in 2011 there were eleven women in roles at the top of departments.
This has fluctuated over the years, but in the last two and half years women have been appointed at the fastest rate ever, with one in three positions going to women.
In total, there have now been 35 women that have been appointed to Permanent Secretary roles, including two who take up posts in 2017, bringing the current total back up to ten.
We are confident this trend will continue, with 40% of the Senior Civil Service now being women and strategic talent and workforce programmes in place to nurture talent. We are delighted that many of our colleagues have.
