WISH Scotland Spring News 2023

WISH Scotland Spring News 2023

Embrace Equity: Breaking the Career Glass Ceiling

WISH and SHARE jointly celebrated International Women's Day on 8th March 2023 with a fabulous breakfast event kindly sponsored by Kingdom Group and held in Glasgow aligned to the CIH Scotland Housing Festival.

The guest speaker at our breakfast networking event was Carol McGuire, Chief Superintendent Dumfries & Galloway Division, Police Scotland. Carol talked about her experience of rising through the ranks at Police Scotland and how personal development and a constant love of learning was the driving force behind her trailblazing rise. “My motive wasn’t to get promoted,” she said, “Everything I did in my career was around personal development. I was never very confident, so there was an aspect of ‘hiding behind the uniform’ so I could be “Officer Carol”. As I grew more confident, I was able to show a bit more of myself. Throughout the entirety of my service, it has been about pushing myself out of my comfort zone.”

A police officer for 27 years, she was Superintendent within Greater Glasgow Division overseeing the management and policing response to events and football matches and later as Head of Specialist Services within Police Scotland’s Operational Support Division holding national responsibility for specialisms including Public Order, CBRN and Search.

Carol was the first female police match commander for a Scottish Cup Final and Celtic V Rangers match, a role she fought hard for. “The feeling back then was ‘why would a female officer want to be in charge at an Old Firm match? It’s football’,” she said. “But it’s never about the sport. My boss had to do a lot of persuading.”

Never thinking of her gender and dismissing thoughts of ‘I can’t do it’ has been the force in her career. “I was determined in my career that I was never going to be drawn down a path because of my gender,” she said. “Being a positive role model is important in my career and that’s what I’d say to all women. Be a role model regardless of your level. Always speak out if you see something unfair, as you’d be surprised how many people will be inspired.”

Without doubt all of us hearing her speak were inspired!