At a Stand Still - 2010 EOWA Australian Census of Women in Leadership

The 2010 Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) Australian Census of Women in Leadership was released yesterday. The census measures the number of women holding Board Directorships and occupying CEO and Executive Management roles in the top 200 ASX listed companies. First conducted in 2002, the census is repeated every two years.

The fifth iteration of the census showed minimal change in measures since the previous release in 2008, and since its inception in 2002. Australian businesses have failed to increase the representation of women in corporate positions of authority and influence during the past decade.

Highlight findings of this census include:

Board Directors

• Women chair five ASX 200 boards and hold 8.4% of ASX 200 board directorships in 2010, compared with 8.3% in 2008.
• There are four additional women holding board seats in 2010 (93 individual women, up from 89 in 2008).
• 54% of ASX 200 companies do not have a single woman on their board. This has increased from 51% in 2008.
• The industry groups with the highest percentage of women Board Directors are:
  o Insurance
  o Consumer Services
  o Banks
  o Software & Services

Executive Management

• Women hold six CEO positions in 2010, compared with four positions in 2008. That’s 194 men in CEO positions.
• Women hold 8% of key Executive Management Personnel positions in 2010, compared to 7% in 2008.
• 61.9% of ASX200 companies do not have a single woman in a key Executive Management Personnel position. This has improved from 65.1% in 2008.
• Women’s representation in line positions is 4.1%, with no change since 2008. Line experience is widely considered to be essential for rising to the top corporate positions.

Australia trails the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and South Africa in these measures.

In the introduction to the report, Acting Director of EOWA Mairi Steele comments that “the census clearly shows that nothing significant has occurred in Australian business culture in the past eight years to address the systemic inequality” that exists within corporate Australia.

And nor is it likely until more ‘persuasive’ measures are implemented and enforced.

As previously highlighted on the Bickley Blog, the ASX have made some welcome changes to their corporate governance principles that will require companies to report the number of women in these senior roles, to set targets and report on annual progress. In a media release, Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick indicated that that she was hopeful that such initiatives would deliver an improved outcome for women by the time of the next census in 2012. The Commissioner went on to state that “if the 2012 Census does not reveal a dramatic increase in the number of women in Board Director and Chair positions and in executive management positions, I would suggest we need to consider putting stronger initiatives in place.”

The Bickley Bloggers look forward to a positive impact of the ASX guidelines and to the taking of action should they not deliver the desired outcomes!