Finding a better balance at work

Participation rates for women at work may be at a highest-ever 45 per cent, and 56 per cent of university graduates may be female, but such figures can lead to false assumptions when it comes to women in the corporate world.

Despite these impressive figures, the fact remains that women occupy relatively few of the nation’s top corporate positions.

Professor Leonie Still, director of the centre for Women and Business within the Graduate School of Management at the University of Western Australia, said there was no single answer to explain the shortage of women at the top end of town, but rather that it was a combination of factors.

“People think there is a magic answer, but there isn’t. Personalities and organisations are all different, but in order for change to begin there has to be a shift by both men and women,” Professor Still said.

“A lot of it comes down to the individual woman, and while many women may not like that opinion, you have to make up your mind if you want to get to the top or not. And there is a price that has to be paid for that; men pay it too.

“The mindset of men at the top also has to be changed. We have to get more men to understand that there is a shortage of talent and to give up the boys’ club to get the best people on board to help an organisation,” she said.

While a range of factors can be taken into account to try and explain women’s struggle for representation at senior levels of business, there are also several factors in common between those who have made it.

All of the women interviewed for the WA Business News ‘women in business’ feature, said that a close family member had been a mentor when they were younger, and had encouraged them to pursue their careers.

While their personalities and experiences differ greatly, there is also no doubt that, for all the women profiled, hard work has been the primary impetus for getting them to where they are today.

One person Michelle Dolin cites as a mentor is Tony Howarth, who she claims is “one constant of many who are always there to help”.

In addition to his role as chairman of several listed companies, Mr Howath is vice-president of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He told WA Business News this week that, while the issues raised by the shortage of senior women in business were not easy, there were many great success stories and role models for young women.

“At the end of the day it’s a very individual thing, but certainly in recent years there have been some terrific women coming through and I am certain that more will come through,” Mr Howarth said.

He said women brought “terrific balance” to boards, and were more intuitive around others than men.

“The responsibility lies with an individual to take control of their future. Don’t sit back and let others manage you, be clear what you want and what you are looking for,” Mr Howarth said.

Several of the women interviewed for this feature emphasised the importance of networking and public profile.

A recent study by the University of New England Business School backs up this point, surveying male and female directors of listed companies and finding that women believed that a high public profile was three times more important than men did in order to gain a board position.

Likewise, a survey of Women on Boards found some common themes on the barriers its members had experienced, or perceived there to be, with regard to securing board positions.

Among these were: an inability to gain exposure and become known; work-life balance; lack of skills and experience; lack of access to information; and a pervasive male attitude to women on boards.

Director of federal body Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA), Anna McPhee, told WA Business News there had been a slow increase in women in senior management and board roles during the past few years, but it was coming off a very narrow base.

“There has been growth, but women are clearly still underrepresented,” Ms McPhee said.

Some of the obstacles preventing more women reaching senior positions were negative assumptions about their abilities and commit-ment, a reluctance to give them line management experience, and a lack of mentoring or access to networks, according to Ms McPhee.

“Employers need to ensure bias is removed to ensure merit based promotion and succession planning,” she said.

“More flexibility in workplaces is also needed allowing senior positions to be part-time so women can move in and out of workplaces easily.”

An EOWA census in 2004 found that female executive managers made up 10.2 per cent of ASX200 companies, up from 8.8 per cent the year before.

The same study revealed that more than 42 per cent of companies had no women executive managers, while 47 per cent had no female directors.

Only four women held a CEO position in the 200 companies, while only two women chaired boards.

No figures are available for last year, but EOWA will be releasing 2006 figures later this year.

Following the 2004 census, researchers recommended that corpo-rate women plan their career pathways carefully to include several line roles with a direct responsibility for the profit and loss of an organisation.

This recommendation was endorsed by EOWA and the Western Australian Public Service.

Barrister and former president of Women Lawyers WA, Penelope Giles, said the glass ceiling was still very much a reality for women in business, particularly those in traditional structures such as law firms.

“As a reaction to this, many women are choosing alternative ways to run their careers and businesses so they are not having to compete unfairly in those structures,” she said.

“To a considerable degree change requires a rethink of responsibilities in the home, particularly in relation to child care, but it also requires a major shift in attitudes about what constitutes a senior professional or executive.”

Ms Giles said that, while economic imperatives would necessarily result in some structural change, she was concerned that once the economic pressures came off, concessions such as part-time employment would be taken away.

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Alinta Limited, Foodland Associated Limited and Great Southern Plantations Limited are among the 42 organisations featured on the list of ASX200 organisations with two or more women executive managers.

Great Southern Plantations has the highest number of women executive managers (27.3%) in Western Australia followed by Alinta Limited (18.2%). Alinta Limited has the highest number of women board directors in WA (33.3%) followed by Great Southern Plantations (20%).

Despite women's workforce participation climbing to the highest ever levels the number of women executive managers is only 10.2% and the number of women board directors is 8.6%. Nearly half (42%) of Australia's ASX 200 companies still have no female executive managers.

Twenty WA companies are among the ASX200 included in the census, the majority being in the materials industry. Seven of these organisations have a higher percentage of women board directors than the overall census average and nearly half (8) of these companies have a higher number of women board directors than their industry competitors.

Four WA organisations are among the EOWA Employer of Choice for Women list released last year. They are Churches of Christ Homes & Community Service Inc, Curtin University of Technology, St John of God Health Care Inc and the University of Western Australia.

Source: 2004 EOWA Census of Women in Leadership