The online survey of 500 EWA members found that while 35 per cent considered the announcement of the Workplace Gender Equality Act earlier this year a step in the right direction, only 1.5 per cent believe this will finally crack the glass ceiling.
The results come as the number of female executive roles in some of Australia’s largest companies remains below 10 per cent, says EWA.
The survey showed that one in two Australian women partly attributed the low percentage of female executives to the belief that ASX500 employers had a lack of experience with female executives, and weren’t willing to invest the time to evolve their company’s culture.
About 70 per cent of women said the hesitancy of leading businesses to implement cultural reforms supporting the introduction of the ASX Corporate Governance Council’s diversity related amendments had made the workplace no more conducive to women holding executive management roles.
EWA Executive Director, Tara Cheesman, said the survey results made it clear that women feel limited by the “boys club” culture surrounding executive positions.
“Many senior roles are filled via referrals, and the reality is that the current field of executives is dominated by men. This creates an ongoing employment cycle that excludes women, and limits transparency in the recruiting process,” Ms Cheesman said.
“It is important that we break this cycle of male employment, and open our eyes to the overwhelming evidence that suggests diversified boards outperform non-diversified boards.”
When asked which initiatives companies could use to increase the number of women in executive roles, one in two women said facilitating top-end managers to network with executive women was one of the most crucial steps.
Some 40 per cent of women thought a company setting internal achievable targets for gender representation was another vital initiative.
According to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 3.5 per cent of ASX 200 companies had a female CEO, and only 12.3 per cent of corporate board directors were women. Of ASX 500 companies nearly two thirds have no female executives.
