How many risk managers have to put their life on the line? Annie Peden, a corporate risk manager for Barclays Wealth and a captain in the Territorial Army, found herself in that position when she spent eight months in Iraq on active service.

Peden, 40, says: “When I was with 20 Armoured Brigade I had a rocket-propelled grenade fired at my Warrior armoured vehicle and had my office window blown out by a bomb. In the Army you are one of the boys. Women don’t get special privileges. If you do your job well, you will earn respect.”

In the British Army women serve alongside men in all but front-line infantry units. Ten per cent of officers are women and 13 per cent of other ranks. The Army has an equal opportunities policy.

Peden’s employer views her military experience positively. She says: “Barclays realised that the Army was the best possible management training. As the manager of one of the bank’s flagship branches I was firm but fair. I now trace laundered money by liaising with Swiss banks. For a woman with ability there are no glass ceilings in banking.”

Chance to reach for the stars

Women are seeking choice, challenge and change, says Glenda Stone

Background

• Cast the net far and wide

• Work and play in harmony

• Even top jobs can be flexible for everyone

• Guided path to a higher rank

Background

• Keeping women on the career ladder

• The spy who came in over the gender divide

• Global network adds a vital string to their bow

• Avoid a waste of talent

Detective Chief Inspector Jane Parry, of West Midlands police, has been with the force for 14 years and liaises with external bodies on child abuse, sex offenders and domestic violence cases in Sandwell division.

Twenty-nine per cent of the force’s staff is female but women are underrepresented at senior level. Parry recalls how it used to be: “I was addressing a room full of senior officers and I began by saying, ‘Ladies and gentlemen’. Then I looked around and saw I was the only woman.”

Parry subsequently set up the West Midlands Association for Women in Policing. It now has 300 members and offers training and mentoring to women officers and civilian staff.

Parry, who started out as a beautician and hairdresser, volunteered as a special constable and found she liked the variety and challenge of policing.

Her enthusiasm and commitment has seen her being promoted from sergeant and inspector to her present rank. She says: “I bring my whole self to the job and I lead by example.”

Construction, once a male stronghold, is now an equal opportunities employer. Tandy Kehoe, 40, human resources manager for Bramall Construction (Northwest) says 18 per cent of employees are women.

She adds: “It’s not like the old days of wolf whistles. We have women plasterers and bricklayers, as well as women construction managers. I think construction is the best job in the world, but you either love it or hate it.”

Shahida Rajabdeen, 26, joined Faithful&Gould, part of the Atkins group, as a quantity surveyor two years ago after graduating with an MBA from the University of Sheffield. “I joined as a graduate trainee and am about to qualify for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. I had to study for around 16 hours a month in addition to my work.”

Rajabdeen works with architects and client project managers estimating, planning and controlling construction costs. She says: “The excitement for me is in bringing in a project on budget. At the moment I am working on a £100 million residential development in London.”

She laughs and admits that male heads turn when she walks into a construction site canteen full of men but says: “They quickly get used to it.”

Rajabdeen plans to stay with the company and aim for a directorship. Her mentor is her line manager – another woman ten years her senior.

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