Understanding Equity: What’s Really Holding Women and Organisations Back in Insurance? Dr Abbey Anderson, Founder and Principle Consultant Insight Change episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 9, 2026 · 18 MIN

Understanding Equity: What’s Really Holding Women and Organisations Back in Insurance? Dr Abbey Anderson, Founder and Principle Consultant Insight Change

from The Impact Room - Conversations That Shape Exceptional Leadership · host Douglas Jackson

Dr Abbey Atkinson joins Michelle Ansell to unpack the structural, cultural and historic forces that shape gender inequality in the UK insurance sector. Drawing from extensive doctoral research and her own industry career, Abbey explains why progress is slowing, what organisations misunderstand about EDI, and the practical steps leaders can take to build equitable, high-performing workplaces. Topics include: • Why gender equality progress remains largely superficial • The “role habitus” concept and how powerful job structures resist change • Flexible working, burnout and why policy without culture doesn’t work • Sponsorship vs mentorship — and why women need both • Networking inequality and why it must be treated as an organisational skill • Data, diagnostics and the danger of misidentifying the problem • How insurers can take meaningful action within 90 days For boards, HR leaders, and executives committed to building better systems — this episode provides grounded, research-led insight with clear recommendations. Listen today - if you would prefer to watch the recording you can do that here: https://youtu.be/Ny8Ht-nfQxE   For more information on Abbey's thesis and company go here https://www.insightchange.co.uk/    Follow Abbey Atkinson here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbey-atkinson-phd-88460257/ If you are looking for a Executive Search firm with a passion for Diversity, learn more about Douglas Jackson and their work here. https://www.douglas-jackson.com/diverse-leadership-recruitment-hire-more-diverse-leaders/        

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 9, 2026

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Understanding Equity: What’s Really Holding Women and Organisations Back in Insurance? Dr Abbey Anderson, Founder and Principle Consultant Insight Change

0:00 18:55

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of The Impact Room - Conversations That Shape Exceptional Leadership?

This episode is 18 minutes long.

When was this The Impact Room - Conversations That Shape Exceptional Leadership episode published?

This episode was published on March 9, 2026.

Can I download this The Impact Room - Conversations That Shape Exceptional Leadership episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!