Women still missing from senior management roles in Canada (sigh)

According to a report released yesterday by The Conference Board of Canada, the presence of Canadian women in senior management positions has stalled in the past two decades. Between 1987 and 2009, the proportion of women in senior management has changed little—men are still more than twice as likely to hold a senior executive position.

Anne Golden, President and CEO of The Conference Board of Canada, said:  “Increasing women’s representation at the senior level is not simply a matter of justice or fairness—although it is that. And it is not simply a “women’s issue.” Companies that fail to integrate women’s perspectives into their high-level decision making risk losing market share, competitive advantage, and profits. We already know what to do. Now we simply need to do it.”

A news release from The Conference Board dated yesterday added that the few women who rise to senior levels often attract substantial media attention, which may give readers the false impression that barriers to women’s advancement are a thing of the past.

Besides quantifying the current underrepresentation of women in management positions, the report (called Women in Senior Management: Where Are They?) also enumerates some of the challenges women still face in the workplace and suggests practices for overcoming the barriers.

http://www.conferenceboard.ca/press/newsrelease/11-08-31/Women_Still_Missing_In_Action_From_Senior_Management_Positions_In_Canadian_Organizations.aspx