Post from Leadership Turn Image credit: re_birf

Yet another article, this one from Australia, bemoaning the fact that women aren’t showing up in the executive ranks.

“How is it that women, who are at least as well educated as men these days, represent only 12 per cent of ASX 200 executive managers? Why have women been appointed as CEOs of just five ASX 200 companies since 2004?”

The numbers are just as bad in the US, even in cutting-edge Silicon Valley where you might expect them to be a bit better.

“Only 9 percent of companies in the county have promoted a woman to a top post, according to a University of California-Davis study of the 400 largest public companies in the state. Only 7 percent of corporate boards include even one woman.”

They don’t improve much in emerging countries, either.

“Women in Sri Lanka are better educated and hold more jobs than ever before. Yet most women continue to suffer from occupational segregation in the workplace and rarely break through the so-called “glass ceiling” separating them from top-level jobs and professional positions…”

So what about Russia, where the sexes have been equally educated for decades

“The number of women holding executive positions decreases moving up the position scale. Women traditionally prevail in the position of Chief Accountant (82%), but the position of Financial Director is primarily occupied by men (78% vs. 22% women). Other positions held by women include: head of Human Resources (62%), head or deputy head of Marketing and Sales (42%), Financial Director (22%). Meanwhile, top managers are mainly men: 96% of General Directors and 86% of board directors. Men have been prevailing in recent appointments to top executive positions (74%), which gives ground to conclude that they will continue to dominate executive positions in the future.”

Say what you will, globally there’s still a glass ceiling; policies are still formatted by men for men—while eliminating the flexibility their wives need to pursue a viable career; and all possible effort is spent talking of improvement while walking for the status quo.

Do you think this will change as Gen X and Y take over?

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 12:15 am and is filed under About Leadership, Change, Culture, Leading Factors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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