Judith Mayhew Jonas: Alpha female

14 December 2003 – Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas – former financial advisor to the Mayor of London, current Provost of Kings College, Cambridge, and chairman of the Royal Opera House – was one of nine “alpha females” interviewed in the Observer about the role to be played by women in the workforce in the 21st century. Says Mayhew Jonas, “I owe my success to an unfair advantage: I’m from New Zealand. People here can’t pigeonhole me by class or by which school or university I went to, so I’ve been judged only on my work and my results. I have a big competitive streak, which is common in Antipodean and American women […] We weren’t brought up to believe that it’s playing the game the matters – for us, winning was what counted.” Her predictions for the new century: “The next generation of women is making smarter, better-informed choices […] I don’t think women will take over from men, but there’s a big adjustment coming in this next generation. We’ll have more shared responsibility and power, at home and at work.” Mayhew Jonas was named New Zealander of the Year in Britain at the annual Waitangi Day dinner in London.