Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management

This International Labour Organisation Report, released in Sydney in August 2001,  reveals that Australia has one of the highest rates of women-owned businesses, but one of the worst records for promoting women to the top of companies. The Report examines the changing role of women in business and government in more than 70 countries, obstacles to their career development, and steps to improve opportunities for women and promote gender equality.  

Australian author, Ms Linda Wirth, senior gender specialist at the Geneva-based International Labour Organisation said, "There's been no real empowerment of women in big business or politics." The trend in Australia for women-owned businesses was due to several factors, Ms Wirth said, including the exodus of women from big companies, and the influence of feminism. 

Below is a link to further information about this Report:

Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management 

By Linda Wirth in Washington, D.C. International Labor Organisation,  Geneva

The Glass Ceiling Hypothesis -

A Comparative Study of the United States, Sweden and Australia

By Janeen Baxter, University of Tasmania and Erik Olin Wright University of Wisconsin-Madison, The American Sociological Review, June, 1995

"The general-case glass ceiling hypothesis states that not only is it more difficult for women than for men to be promoted up levels of authority hierarchies within workplaces but also that the obstacles women face relative to men become greater as they move up the hierarchy. Gender-based discrimination in promotions is not simply present across levels of hierarchy but is more intense at higher levels. Empirically, this implies that the relative rates of women being promoted to higher levels compared to men should decline with the level of the hierarchy. This article explores this hypothesis with data from three countries: the United States, Australia, and Sweden." (The Glass Ceiling Hypothesis Study)

see: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/GenderGap.pdf

Leadership Training and Development by Dr. Bianka Lichtenberger, Director Graduate Business School, Member of the KS Group, Zürich, Switzerland

Presentation for Women in Life Sciences,  
Tools for Successful Research Careers, Stockholm, December 3, 2001

 This Presentation presents the 1990 Statistics for the Representation of Women at International Companies. It states that “Almost universally, women have failed to reach leading positions in major corporations…….. irrespective of their abilities…….Women generally fare best in industries employing large numbers of women, such as health and community services and the hotel and catering industry.”(Linda Wirth, Womens’s Corporate Progress, Study for the International Labour Office (ILO) 1997)

In relation to attitudinal and organisational Barriers to Women’s Corporate Advancement as identified by CEO’s & HR Professionals it looks at the "Stereotypes and preconceptions concerning women’s abilities and suitability for  careers in the corporate environment ."

•  Lack of access to line positions, 

•  Lack of careful career planning and planned job assignments to ensure that women are equipped with broad  experience that lends the credibility necessary for senior positions  

•  Exclusion of women from informal channels of communication  and learning about the operations of the company and   opportunities for promotion

• Counterproductive behaviour of male colleagues 

 

Tactics to further women’s advancement:

Tactic #  1:  Demonstrate Senior- Management support for    Diversity Initiatives

Tactic #  2: Provide Diversity Awareness Training

Tactic #  3: Institute targeted Recruitment Programmes

Tactic #  4: Identify and track High-Potential Female Employees

Tactic #  5: Establish Women’s Networking Groups

Tactic #  6: Provide High-Potential Women with Mentors or Coaches

Tactic #  7: Provide Women with Line Experience and Cross-training

Tactic #  8: Increase Women’s Visibility by assigning     business-critical Roles

Tactic #  9: Emphasise Women in Succession-Planning Process

Tactic # 10: Assist Employees in balancing work and personal    responsibilities

Tactic # 11: Hold Management accountable for Diversity Programs

Tactic # 12: Create a comprehensive sustained Diversity Strategy

 It goes on to present specific Programmes used by certain  Industries implementing tactic 3, 5 and 11.

To see the transcript of the PowerPoint presentation see:

FUTURE EUROPEAN LEADERSHIP by

For the full Powerpoint version see:  

http://www.ki.se/wistool/speakers.html 

Then choose Bianka Lichtenberger

(Please note that it takes a few minutes to download.)