Business owner Sue Nelson asked everyone in the room to stand up if they were white, male, heterosexual and born before 1975.

The chief executive and founder of Ashford-based Breakthrough Group then lit the match on a debate about getting women into top roles in the workplace.

“The problem we have is you guys don’t understand that you have a culture,” she told the Gender on the Agenda conference.

“You are a tribe but because you see it everywhere, you think that is how the world is. But it isn’t.

"You walk around all day not realising you are absolutely, breathtakingly privileged.”

The comments prompted a fiery discussion between the audience of about 50 people and the debate’s panel at Maidstone’s Tudor Marriott Hotel.

It did not impress Jonathan Gauton, chief executive of Maidstone law firm Outset Group, which co-hosted the conference with the IoD.

"You walk around all day not realising you are absolutely, breathtakingly privileged..." - Sue Nelson, Breakthrough Funding

The event asked what can be done to improve gender diversity in leadership but he warned Ms Nelson’s comments could “come across in a really fatalistic and tribal way”.

He said: “I don’t identify entirely with the group of people you told to stand up. I’m pretty obsessed with the idea of talent and capability. What I’m looking for in anyone is self-examination, motivation and a degree of selflessness.

“Where I see those things, I see growth.”

The conference also heard from Susannah Schofield, owner of Dice Matrix Consultancy, based in Sevenoaks, who worked for nearly eight years at Royal Mail, eventually sitting on its board as commercial opportunity director.

She described how she worked with some 500 people in an environment which was “90% male dominated, with huge targets and lots of testosterone”.

Asked whether there was a tribal culture, she said: “At no point did I ever feel like that. I don’t know if that’s because I’m relatively confident or because I’d had a career already, so it wasn’t the first time I was there.

"I’m sure there’s been times where I’ve realised I’m the only woman in the room but I’ve never felt that’s not enabled me to grow.”

Panellist Dr Ana Leite from the University of Kent said: “Women are perceived as less ambitious, less motivated and less competitive.

"Men seem to be promoted based on their potential while women are promoted based on their performance.”

Mark Freed, boss of E2W in Kings Hill, which supports women in the financial sector, summed up the sentiments in the room.

He said: “We need more diversity - not just in gender - at the top because diverse organisations make better decisions.”