Campaigner and role model for women’s advancement gives Warwick Economics Guest Lecture

The Department of Economics welcomed Jill Pay, Chairman of The Gender Index and former Serjeant at Arms of the House of Commons, as the latest in its series of inspirational female guest lecturers.

Jill’s lecture - 'My Kaleidoscope Career That Led to The Gender Index' – ranged across her fascinating career journey, highlights of which included helping to host President Barack Obama at the Houses of Parliament and meeting Nelson Mandela, and also covered her current work as Chairman of The Gender Index the first, free-to-use index benchmarking the impact of female-led companies on the UK economy.

Jill is best known to the public as the first female Serjeant at Arms of the House of Commons. She was appointed in January 2008 by Her Majesty the Queen after a lengthy selection process, making history on two counts – she was the first woman appointed to the post and the first appointee from a non-military background. “I needed a backbone of steel,” Jill commented, noting also that the strong network she had built with other women working in the Palace of Westminster since starting as Head Office Keeper in 1994 was a vital support for her.

Speaking to a busy lecture theatre, Jill summed up the role as holding the balance between ensuring the security of the House of Commons and protecting the public’s right to enter the building, observing democracy in action and lobbying their Members of Parliament. There was also a strong element of ceremony and theatre – the Serjeant at Arms plays a key role in the annual State Opening of Parliament and leads the Speaker’s Procession at the start of every sitting day. Sharing a photograph of herself in uniform, Jill noted that she was the only person entitled to wear a sword within the House of Commons.

After four busy years in the role, Jill stepped down to focus on her personal mission – to help women, children and small businesses grow, develop and thrive. Her passion for empowering and supporting women has led to the creation of The Gender Index where Jill teamed up with AI specialist John Cushing through her work with the Women in Enterprise APPG. “Data Man met Gender Woman, and the Gender Index was conceived,” she joked.

Jill is also very active with the Coram children’s charity and with a number of organisations supporting women in business and public life. She encouraged the female students present to challenge any feelings of imposter syndrome, sharing that when she had felt daunted in the House of Commons recruitment process she decided to respect the fact that the very thorough HR sift had recognised she had the potential to succeed in the role, so she had better believe in herself just as much as they had. She also encouraged the students to have a go at new challenges and to encourage each other to succeed.

The Gender Index aims to drive change through data, exposing barriers to female success and enabling predictive modelling of the impact of policy changes. “We want to see more female-led, fast-growth companies in the UK,” Jill said.

Warwick student Aimee Cornish said "It was incredibly inspiring to hear Jill’s story and understand her career trajectory since becoming Serjeant at Arms for the House of Commons. Her message on gender equality is pertinent to the current climate of societal expectations for young individuals’ development, for which Jill serves as a wonderful role model’.

Read more about The Gender Index: The Gender Index