Alpha males dominating boardrooms and treating the office like the Colosseum must come to an end to allow 'feminine traits' to be expressed and equally valued, Cheryl Giovannoni, chief executive of the Girls' Day School Trust (GDST), suggests

Men should stop trying to be like Gladiator Russell Crowe in the boardroom if there is ever going to be complete gender parity in the workplace, an education chief has said.

Alpha males dominating boardrooms and treating the office like the Colosseum must come to an end to allow 'feminine traits' to be expressed and equally valued, Cheryl Giovannoni, chief executive of the Girls' Day School Trust (GDST), suggests.

Speaking at the annual conference, she explained that for too many women, the boardroom represents a combative environment which undermines their influence when leadership should in fact be a 'gender diverse concept'.

'To those who see themselves not so much as leaders of complex organisations but gladiators striding into the arena, this has to stop.

'The meeting room is not the Colosseum. And, frankly, you are not Russell Crowe,' the education chief, who was a high flyer at advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather before moving to GDST, said.

The top girls' school leader suggested that different socialisation experiences between girls and boys often means they exhibit leadership traits differently to men who have been encouraged to display dominant behavioural traits from early age.

'To those who see themselves not so much as leaders of complex organisations but gladiators striding into the arena, this has to stop. 'The meeting room is not the Colosseum. And, frankly, you are not Russell Crowe,' the education chief said

Men should stop trying to be like Gladiator Russell Crowe in the boardroom, the education chief said

'We need to create a modern world where these powerful feminine traits are equally valued and expressed by both men and women,' Ms Giovannoni, whose trust represents 25 primarily independent schools, added.

Ms Giovannoni made headlines last year when she urged parents and carers not to wrap girls in cotton wool - arguing that they are 'far stronger, resilent and feistier' than people think.

Her comments came in relationship to data on the concerning rise of sexting among thousands of under-age school children.