One thing that has struck me in my very mixed office, is that if a child is unwell or needs looking after in the holidays, it is usually the mother that has to take time off work to do the caring.

Saying that when a child is unwell it needs its mother is just piffle. There are more male doctors than female, so men are obviously just as capable as women in dispensing Calpol and cough mixture. They're certainly able to clear vomit off the floor and change a bed sheet. So why is it the woman who has to take the time off?

This reinforces the perception that women in the workforce do not matter, that their jobs are just 'pin money' and bring no appreciable income to the household - the 'traditional' view.

There are many aggressive women in top jobs, even more in the lower paid ones... it's the middle ground that seems to be lacking. Take the Inland Revenue in the UK...   something like 50% of all female employees are on the lowest pay scale/5th grade. The other 50% are scattered unevenly throughout the other 4 grades, with one particular grade having only about 2% of that remaining half.

There are more women than men in the Revenue that are still at the same grade after 10 years of working - even without taking career or maternity breaks. Until fairly recently, those women who took career or maternity breaks were not granted pensions for that time off, whereas the men who took career breaks were still given pension rights. At least we've stopped firing women just for getting married.

LTS