Partner Article

Women step off the corporate ladder

A 40% decrease of female senior managers working in major UK businesses has prompted talk that women are stepping off the corporate ladder, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Only 22% of senior manager level posts in the FTSE 350 are occupied by women, compared to 38% in 2002. This is despite many companies introducing measures to address diversity and equal opportunities in the workplace. However, at the most senior level, the number of females holding positions as chairmen or chief execs is growing, albeit at a slow pace.

Cathy Little, student recruitment manager and diversity ambassador, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Newcastle said: “At the top, things are moving slowly in the right direction but our middle management data paints a very different picture. Businesses tend to pay more attention to gender issues in senior positions and there appears to be an assumption that a supply from the middle ranks will eventually feed through. For big companies at least, this pipeline is shrinking at a worrying rate.”

PWC say that the reasons for this emerging trend include the increasing cost of childcare. Women holding positions of greater seniority are more likely to have a larger disposable income and be able to better afford the cost of flexible childcare, allowing them to follow their career. As well as this, evidence shows an increasing number of women entering the business world alone. According to the Labour Force Survey the number of self-employed women in the UK recently tipped the one million mark.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .