Pat Strachan is chief executive of Age Concern Peterborough, and is responsible for 80 members of staff and 160 volunteers. She controls a budget of £800,000.

Confidence is the key to women succeeding in the workplace, according to Pat Strachan, who has been at the head of the city's Age Concern branch for 11 years.

"I have come across a lot of women who think that they are second-class citizens, that they shouldn't even think about taking the top jobs," said Pat (49).

"But I think that whereas it might have been true that girls 30 years ago were encouraged to think like that, it isn't the case now. I think expectations are higher now, and hopefully that will have a knock-on effect.

"I think a lot of younger generation women will be pushing forward and not having those psychological barriers that quite a few women of my generation have."

Feature:
You don't have to behave like a man to get to the top
The ET's Jemma Walton talks to some of the most powerful women in Peterborough, 19 September 2008.