Role models: Wanda Eriksen

Taking steps to increase the number of women in leadership

I was born and raised in Peoria, Illinois, USA, to Swiss German parents. I joined Price Waterhouse in the New York office in 1990, having studied for a masters in accounting science. I joined the audit practice. I was always on the auditor track at college—I viewed the big firms as dynamic and offering opportunities to travel.

Moving to Europe

I went to New York as a first step on my way to Europe. I visited Switzerland many times as a child and I am bilingual, so it was always my dream to live there permanently. After three years in New York, I called the Zurich office. I was too junior to qualify for any of the secondment programmes, so I arranged my own move. Three months later, I arrived. I was quickly promoted to manager and senior manager, and I specialised in various technical areas, contributed to a book and had positive client experiences. In 2002, I moved into insurance from technology. It’s a complicated business sector, so it has spiced up my auditing life. I became a partner on 1 July 1999, aged 31. I was pregnant with my first daughter, who was born at the end of that month. I now have four daughters.Coming to Switzerland was a big opportunity opener for me; I had a profile which was very suitable for doing well over here. The internal roles have given me a lot of exposure to PwC leadership, which has time and time again led to new opportunities, such as engaging with our CEO around the women in PwC agenda.

Introducing quotas – do they work?

I think that there should be mandated female appointments in certain teams and roles, for example, at global board level and at country leadership level. There should be quotas to make this happen. The situation in Norway, with the introduction of recent legislation mandating a 40% female share of board members, proves that this can work. There’s a view that this has caused weaker men to be removed from the boards, leading to an overall improvement in quality, which is an unlooked for benefit to this model. So, quotas aren’t all bad!

When 50% of your employees are female and yet there are no women on the management board, it does seem out of sync. I think we need to get some movement going by being aggressive and creating new rules.

Combining motherhood with a successful career

I believe a well balanced and successful life has room for both motherhood and PwC. The firm is unparalleled in its opportunities for a diverse and challenging career. There’s job security, mobility, good earning potential and fascinating work—all of which is very compatible with motherhood. Even at a more junior level, you have flexibility and freedom to organise your time and that’s very appealing to women who want it all.