Suzanne Moore examines the rhetoric that feminism has gone too far and that there are "problems" in employing women (Quotas and women-only shortlists aren't popular, but let's face it, they work, 30 April).

She rightly points out that feminism seems to be wrongly "blamed for everything from unemployment to busting up families" and that any "gains" the government can point to are tiny "when you look at the actual figures on the representation of women in public life for example".

But there have been some significant shifts taking place. In their recent book, Christina Ioannidis and Nicola Walther revealed that not only are women becoming the purchasing decision-makers, but we hold the majority of spending power and earning potential – annually, $20tn in consumer spending and $13tn in earnings, figures likely to increase in the next five years.

Moore quoted Simon Murray, chairman of Glencore, saying that women "are not so ambitious in business as men because they've got better things to do". He seems unaware that many women leave corporate life often because they don't see a fit between themselves and the male leadership. So, yes they do go off – increasingly to set up their own business (there were 90,000 women-only startups in the UK in 2008). Given this entrepreneurial spirit, Moore's view that choices for women "are not expanding any more" may not resonate with all women.

But what does resonate with us is the need for women in our social, economic and political spheres to, as she said, "wake up to what has really happened". Research we undertook found just how unwilling women are to help change leadership culture. This research established that: women with the power rarely use that power to promote the interests of women; women don't use the power they have over suppliers to push them towards greater gender balance; and women don't support quotas despite reporting that they know many women who are boardroom-calibre.

It seems that the laudable feminine oversensitivity to fairness and integrity is simply preventing women from accelerating change. Women are failing other women (just as men are) because of deep-rooted attitudes about what is acceptable and expected of women.

We agree that quotas, women-only shortlists and any other positive action (not to be confused with positive discrimination) will work in helping to counteract past discrimination and break unhelpful stereotyping. What are government and the business community afraid of?

The quality of leaders' decisions is not compromised by having women at the table. And let's not ignore the potential to increase a company's return on investment by appointing more women to boards. We would echo Moore's view that "the push for equality stopped years ago. We have stalled." Expecting change in employment to occur naturally, without intervention, will result in no change at all.