By David Fox Ms Beth Vesey is the energetic senior manager of international business at the Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd.

As a young professional she's ready to debunk the myth of the `glass ceiling' for women, even though just five of the 21 senior managers at the bank are women.

And she may have a compelling argument: "I don't think it's unusual,'' she reflected. "We have to face reality. And reality is that there are couples who will have children, and the way society is today, the male traditionally goes out and works. The female does tend to take over the day-to-day responsibilities of home care.

"Even if women do choose to work, their life is still dependent on their children, because their husband, or whoever the father is, may not be there to take care of them.

"To be honest, there's no way I could have gotten to where I am today without putting in extra time. I'm working sometimes 12 hours a day. I arrive at eight in the morning and I may leave at six. But when I leave my office, I take work home with me.

"I'm not a nine-to-fiver and if I had children, or didn't have a supportive spouse, I probably would not be where I am today, because I just wouldn't have had the time to put in.

"By virtue of the job I'm in, dealing with overseas offices in places like Hong Kong. I'm dealing with them late at night. It's easier to do it from home at that hour.

"Life is full of choices and my choice was to defer having children until later on.'' She is now pregnant with her first child.

But Ms Vesey is quite prepared to advance the argument that women want more professional opportunities than they did even a decade ago.

She believes that more women recognise that the opportunities are there for the taking.

What, no `glass ceiling?' "I don't think so. I really don't. I mean there may be in some areas in some companies or some departments somewhere. But I think the time is now for women. Women have proved themselves in the past and can continue to prove themselves.

"If they want to and they want to put in the time, and they have the ability, they will progress. The big question is where does that leave the family of the future. That's where it becomes important that there are other members of the family to support the family. In my case, for example, I have an incredibly supportive husband, John Martin.

"We will look for day care for our child that we both feel comfortable with.'' She has been just elected as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.

She is also the president of the Local Centre of the CIB.

She intends to be a banker for the rest of her career having been introduced to the job as a summer student.

But she admits banking, as much as it's a career she is in love with, was happenstance more than anything else.

"It wasn't something that I always knew I wanted to do. I kind of fell into it. After university, it was just natural that I went back to the company that had employed me during the summers. That was Butterfield's Bank.

"After two years I went on to the Bank of Bermuda for five years and then on to the Bermuda Monetary Authority for three years. I've been back here at Butterfield's for two years.'' She has seen a lot of the operations of banks, having spent time in different departments.

Initially, at Butterfield's, she was involved in investment advisory services and investment management. At the Bank of Bermuda, she was in trust administration.

At the BMA, she was a supervisor of financial institutions, helping to establish the supervisory systems for banks and other institutions.

Now, as a senior manager, there is still scope for her to progress up to senior vice president, through executive vice president to the president's office, although no one expects Mr. Michael Collier to be giving up that job anytime in the near future.

Ms Vesey remarked about the unique role she has, not because she is a woman, but because she is the link between the overseas offices and the head office.

"I won't be a traditional banker. You couldn't say I'm a traditional banker, now.

"I'm not there liasing with customers on a day-to-day basis. I'm not analysing credit applications or doing treasury deals or investment deals. I'm on the administrative side, in the middle of the relationship between our executives here in Bermuda and the senior management in the other offices around the world.'' MS BETH VESEY -- Senior manager at the Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd.