Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Latest Issue
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Autumn Winter 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    1. Life
    2. Money and Work

    Male academic says women are 'biologically unfit' to operate at senior levels of business

    Outrageous comments made during a parliamentary business committee

    By Marie Claire
    Published 13 November 2012 In Features

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    Businesswoman
    Businesswoman
    (Image credit: REX)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Outrageous comments made during a parliamentary business committee

    An academic claimed that women are 'biologically unfit' to operate at senior levels of business during a parliamentary business committee.

    At the inquiry, set up to report on women in the workplace, Steve Moxon said 'damn right there is a difference between the sexes', going on to say that 'there is no surprise that women have difficulty in the work place, not only do they have difficulty but they don’t want to be there in the first place!'

    Arguing that women who worked in boardrooms were 'not typical women'. He said: 'Presumably the whole point of having women in boardrooms is to bring some womanly qualities' and that a 10:1 male to female ratio at the top level of business was based on scientific differences.

    The ludicrous claims carried on, with Moxon adding it was 'difficult to explain why women would want to climb the hierarchy', suggesting women only wanted to do it to put themselves in the path of high status men.

    You may like
    • Woman organizing documents in cluttered office workspace Why Are Successful Women Staying in Jobs That Make Us Miserable?
    • bright green sticky note reading “I Quit” on a computer keyboard Does Anyone Actually Want to Be the Boss Anymore?
    • Reverend Pippa White, author of Not a Priestess: Tales from Beyond the Pulpit, shares her experiences of sexism as a female vicar in the Church of England. I Thought That When I Became a Vicar, the Sexist Remarks Would Stop—I Couldn’t Have Been More Wrong

    He also said the gender pay gap should be larger than it is, and that sex equality legislation should be called 'sex inequality'.

    'In order to have a life as a man, you have to display and gain the status, this does not apply to women at all.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    'Underemployment for men should be considered a far more serious situation than underemployment for women', he added.

    Moxon was speaking to MPs alongside Mike Buchanan from Campaign for Merit in Business, sociologist Dr Catherine Hakim and Heather McGregor, director at Taylor Bennett.

    Author of book 'The Woman Racket', which explains these claims in greater length, Moxon was also a local election candidate for UKIP before being dropped for praising Norwegian mass-murderer Anders Breivik’s account of political correctness in Europe.

    What to read next
    • Carrie Bradshaw and Mr Big standing outdoors in Sex and the City, a show that influenced what women expect from men in romantic relationships. “I Expected Men to Be Financial Providers, But Not Emotionally Safe”—What We Ask From Male Partners Has Changed, But Is It For Better or Worse?
    • Women walking and running; through a city and on a beach. Run Free, Stay Safe: The Impossible Double Standard Facing Women Who Run
    • Female athletes crossing the finish line at a track and field event Why We Should Care About Sexualisation in Women's Sport—and How It’s Bigger Than Sydney Sweeney

    A UKIP spokesman told news site Londonlovesbusiness.com that Moxon was 'completely barmy' and that they no longer have any connection to him.

    However, Conservative MP and business committee member Robin Walker said Moxon would have been chosen in order to represent 'a wide range of views', before adding: 'He was definitely on the extreme end and he didn’t come across as very reasonable at all.'

    What do you think of Moxon's statements? Let us know in the comments below.

    LATEST WORLD NEWS

    LATEST MC@WORK

    Marie Claire
    Social Links Navigation

    The leading destination for fashion, beauty, shopping and finger-on-the-pulse views on the latest issues. Marie Claire's travel content helps you delight in discovering new destinations around the globe, offering a unique – and sometimes unchartered – travel experience. From new hotel openings to the destinations tipped to take over our travel calendars, this iconic name has it covered.

    Read more
    Woman organizing documents in cluttered office workspace
    Money and Work Why Are Successful Women Staying in Jobs That Make Us Miserable?
    bright green sticky note reading “I Quit” on a computer keyboard
    Money and Work Does Anyone Actually Want to Be the Boss Anymore?
     
     
    Reverend Pippa White, author of Not a Priestess: Tales from Beyond the Pulpit, shares her experiences of sexism as a female vicar in the Church of England.
    Money and Work I Thought That When I Became a Vicar, the Sexist Remarks Would Stop—I Couldn’t Have Been More Wrong
    Carrie Bradshaw and Mr Big standing outdoors in Sex and the City, a show that influenced what women expect from men in romantic relationships.
    Relationships “I Expected Men to Be Financial Providers, But Not Emotionally Safe”—What We Ask From Male Partners Has Changed, But Is It For Better or Worse?
     
     
    Latest in Money and Work
    Reverend Pippa White, author of Not a Priestess: Tales from Beyond the Pulpit, shares her experiences of sexism as a female vicar in the Church of England.
    Money and Work I Thought That When I Became a Vicar, the Sexist Remarks Would Stop—I Couldn’t Have Been More Wrong
    Grace Victory on Letting Go of Ambition
    Money and Work “My Whole Sense of Worth Was Based on What I Could Achieve.” Grace Victory on Her Ambition Epiphany.
     
     
    bright green sticky note reading “I Quit” on a computer keyboard
    Money and Work Does Anyone Actually Want to Be the Boss Anymore?
    Woman organizing documents in cluttered office workspace
    Money and Work Why Are Successful Women Staying in Jobs That Make Us Miserable?
     
     
    Latest in Features
    Overconsumption: Rhode raises a wider beauty question
    Beauty Beauty Wants to Talk Anti-Consumption. But Can an Industry Built on Selling More Really Change?
    The best things to do this November
    Culture The Agenda: November Is Looking Good
     
     
    Oestrogen skincare
    Skincare Can Oestrogen Really Reverse Skin Ageing? MC Investigates Beauty’s Next Hormonal Frontier
    Health freelancer Georgia trying a walking challenge; with her dog, the app, and at a cafe
    Fitness I Tried a Walking App to Break My Mindless Scrolling Habit—And It Changed My Relationship With My Phone
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.