Top organisations are deploying a range of strategies to address the known issues affecting women’s advancement.   While  companies are increasingly active in their efforts to drive gender equality, women remain underrepresented in the career pipeline. Women constitute 42 percent of all employees, yet make up just a quarter of executives and only 10 percent of CEOs for large, for-profit companies. The transition point from key management positions to CEO has the highest drop off (59 percent) in women’s representation of any in the pipeline. Over the past three years, the average growth rate across all industries in women taking leadership roles stands at 2.8 percent, with public administration and with rental, hiring, and real-estate services leading the pack at 19.6 percent and 15.1 percent growth rates, respectively. Despite the positive trajectory, women’s representation in management, C-suite, and CEO roles continues to be a particular challenge. Progress at the very top is expected to be slow Beyond today’s pipeline numbers, the low numbers of women in key management roles presents a challenge that is difficult to change in the near term. Of the 24 percent of women in key management roles today, many of them are in support roles, such as head of human resources and general counsel. Research on workplace diversity reveals, around 90 percent of CEO appointments come from line roles such as chief operating officer or head of a business division. This means the near-term pipeline of women who are in line for CEO appointments is even smaller than it appears. Efforts to achieve gender equality are apparent The objective to achieve gender equality and change these dynamics is evident. Companies implement stand-alone gender-equity strategies. Recruitment policies are the most emphasised area. However, while policies are a useful tool for progressing toward gender balance, they alone do […]