Women require greater board level representation
Fri, 08 May 2009
A leading women's business network has backed equalities minister Harriet Harman's suggestion that more female professionals need to enter senior roles within companies.
Karen Gill, director of everywoman, agrees that too few women are found in senior management or board-level positions.
She claims many companies appear to have a balanced approach to gender within the workplace, but women are still overlooked for promotions.
Ms Gill adds: "It has been proven that a more balanced workforce is a more financially productive one.
"There has been much debate that the macho culture in the city contributed in part to the economic downturn, how great a part we're not sure we'll ever know."
She says it is "essential" that organisations focus on encouraging and supporting their female staff into higher management, and invest in development and training to ensure they progress professionally.
Research commissioned by recruitment scoring website www.HireScores.com indicates that 81 per cent of British business managers would ask female job applicants if they were pregnant, planned on having children or already had them if they were allowed.
Due to employment laws prohibiting such questions, almost 50 per cent of managers admit to factoring in a woman's age and relationship status when trying to establish whether they are likely to fall pregnant in the future.
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