Executive women at work

This paper tracks the representation of executive women at work. First, the paper discusses the significant deficit of female managers (ABS 2007a), and a marked decline of women professionals from their mid to late 30s. Significant differences in age and sex distributions are evident between different occupational groups, and discriminatory practices continue to play a role. We discuss the implications of these patterns. Second, the paper describes how labour management policies might address the more salient gender issues. Our findings suggest that while some common ‘old’ perceptions related to women apparently more suited to particular professions are slowly being reversed, better policies related to equal representation are required.