Glass Ceiling

Yesterday the Australian Financial Review published a report on executive salaries in Australia. The paper provided us with pages and pages of analysis of the post-GFC public outcry over executive salaries, and into the industrial relations debate that has reared its head again since the Qantas fleet was grounded. But amongst all this analysis, the paper overlooked a glaringly obvious and disturbing issue.

The AFR no doubt knows that IR reform, which goes hand-in-hand with the old CEO executive remuneration versus union bargaining for pay increases chestnut, is shaping up to be a key battleground in the next election campaign. However, the newspaper completely overlooked the issue of gender and executive salaries.

The list of 287 companies and roughly 300 or so individuals that make up Australia’s highest paid CEOs and Executive Chairman comprises just eight women. The statistics here are almost as alarming as the fact that there was entirely no mention of this in the commentary.

Continue reading "I am woman, hear me roar… except in the boardroom" »

It has been reported in recent times that the proportion of women on corporate boards and in the top management of Australia’s leading companies is actually shrinking has come as a shock to many.

Australia was once ranked second only to America in the number of top companies with a woman senior executive, and we now fall last on a list of comparable nations including New Zealand, Britain, South Africa and Canada.

In Australian about 55% of the top 2000 companies have at least one woman in an executive management position – compared to 85% in the US.

Continue reading "Some women just don’t want to break the glass ceiling" »