All Reports

Women in the Workplace Report

September 2021
The Women in the Workplace report, conducted by McKinsey in partnership with LeanIn.Org, has found that while women have made important gains in representation, and especially in senior leadership, the pandemic continues to take a toll. Women are now significantly more burned out—and increasingly more so than men.
Read the full report.

FINSIA: The Gender Divide in Financial Services

October 2021

Women on Boards Executive Director Claire Braund said she couldn't put it any better than Financial Services Institute of Australia CEO Chris Whitehead who has said this report highlighting the persistent division between men and women’s perception about the extent of the gender pay gap is a wake-up call to the finance industry.

“More than 25 per cent of males believe the extent of the pay gap is grossly exaggerated. Yet only 6 per cent of women believing this is not the case - clearly a gender divide in the perception versus reality," Mr Whitehead said of the results of FINSIA’s biennial Gender Divide Survey which found men and women in financial services are out of step with each other on issues of gender inequality.

Read the full report

FT’s Great Board Reboot: Is it time for a new agenda?

August 2021

In the wake of corporate scandals, a global pandemic and an uncertain economic and social recovery, all eyes are firmly on the board. Now new global research among board directors and international experts, including Women on Boards, reveals how they are embracing an evolution in their role and responsibilities.

The FT’s Great Board Reboot report on the boardroom, and what is changing, is based on a survey of 626 respondents conducted in March 2021. All respondents currently sit on the board of at least one company.

It also includes interviews with leading experts including Women on Boards’s Co-founder Ruth Medd.

Read the full report.

Impact of COVID-19 on women in the STEM workforce | Asia–Pacific

August 2021

This report from the Australian Academy of Science presents the key findings of research into the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce in the Asia-Pacific region. It explores the impacts on STEM careers and individual wellbeing and identifies ways organisations and individuals within the STEM system can support gender equity in STEM. Read the full report.

2021 Board Diversity Index

July 2021

The 2021 Board Diversity Index report, by Governance Institute of Australia and Watermark Search International, examines 300 organisations and more than 2000 board seats and looks at five types of diversity: gender, cultural background, skills, age, and tenure and independence. Read the full report.

Board Diversity and Effectiveness in FTSE 350 Companies

July 2021

The research, Board Diversity and Effectiveness in FT350 Companies, published by the FRC in conjunction with London Business School, Leadership Institute and SQW found that the effort to diversify boards pays benefits in terms of boardroom culture and performance. To maximise these benefits boards should recognise that change takes time and that diversity without active inclusion is unlikely to encourage new talent to the board. Read the full report

The Champions of Change Sport Group’s Pathway to Gender Equality in Sport: Progress Report 2019-2020

July 2021

The Champions of Change Sport Group’s Pathway to Gender Equality in Sport: Progress Report 2019-2020 confirmed that increasing women’s representation in key management personnel and in high performance roles (including coaching) remains a challenge for the sport sector.
Read the full report

AICD Gender Diversity Report

June 2021

The AICD report March - May 2021 shows women now make up 33.6 per cent (as at 31 May 2021) of board roles in the ASX 200, up from 30.9 per cent this time last year.
Read the report here
Read Claire's review here

The Hidden Truth

June 2021

Women on Boards UK's new report gives the most comprehensive picture ever of the state of diversity and inclusion across the entire FTSE All-Share. For the first time, it examines every FTSE All-Share company below the 350 (FTSE All-Share ex350) and brings together the Gender Pay Gap data
Read the Full Report
Read the Executive Summary

Counting Culture

May 2021

New research from Diversity Council Australia (DCA) and the University of Sydney Business School has developed a standardised approach for defining, measuring, and reporting on workforce cultural diversity in a respectful, accurate and inclusive way.
Read the PDF report
Read online

2021 AGM Intelligence Report

After surveying its top clients, Computershare has published its 2021 AGM Intelligence report, which has uncovered that 2020 was a year when we all learned how to do things differently. Key insights included:

Many Australian AGMs were replaced by virtual or hybrid events for the first time, with most attendees participating online rather than in person.
There was increase in overall AGM attendance of 3.6% compared to 2019.
The number of shareholders who registered their attendance at AGMs in 2020 dropped by approximately 40%.
In 2020, 93.6% of votes were lodged prior to the meeting, up by 1.6% from 2019
The introduction of virtual and hybrid AGMs in 2020 generated discussion regarding the transparency of using online platforms.
Key issues faced by boards included climate change; activism; director accountability; executive remuneration and the rise of E&S.

Read the report

Six Priorities for Boards in 2021

EY Center for Board Matters January 2021
Following a year of global upheaval, organizations are re-evaluating every aspect of their business. In 2021, companies and boards will face an acceleration of existing challenges and be compelled to address how they are building resilience and creating sustainable value in a rapidly changing business environment. With increased investor scrutiny and stakeholder considerations, boards will be well served to focus on the following priorities in 2021:

Overseeing strategy to create long-term value
Promoting enterprise resiliency in the face of uncertainty
Focusing on workforce transformation and new ways of working
Leading on diversity, equity and inclusion
Guiding an ESG strategy that drives stakeholder engagement and value
Challenging board composition and effectiveness

Read the Report

CEW ASX200 Census reveals that progress for women has flatlined

CEW/Bain September 2020
On the release of CEW and Bain's ASX200 Senior Executive Census, Claire Braund questions the role of executive search firms in these continued low numbers.
Read Claire's comment on the report here
Read the Report

How do Chairs prepare for board meetings?

VUCA, August 2020
'How do Chairs prepare for Board meetings?' provides insights into how Chairs undertake their role.
Read the report online
Read the report PDF

Women Count 2020 (UK) Report

The Pipeline, July 2020
Women Count 2020 is the fifth annual report tracking the number of women on executive committees and main boards in FTSE 350 companies, The report shows that companies with women in senior leadership roles are more profitable, better innovators and more respected in their fields. It also shows how a failure to develop and promote women into CEO or C-Suite roles has serious consequences, not least for profitability, The report revealed four key themes:

Lost profits when a company has less women leaders.
The UK is going backwards in gender diversity.
Preparing women for the next level is a broken springboard - with women holding just 10% of P&L roles, this is seen as a keen inhibitor to succession; and
There are worrying signs amid the green shoots of progress - with the current slow rate of growth, gender parity won’t be achieved on FTSE 350 Executive Committees until 2032.

Read the report PDF

Gender Equity Insights 2020

BCEC / WGEA June 2020
This year's report found a compelling link between female leadership and profitability, performance and productivity. Key findings include:

More women are holding senior leadership roles across Australian companies than ever before. However, women still remain grossly under-represented as key decision makers.
Women are least likely to be the Chair of the Board. In 2019, only 14.1% of Board Chair positions were held by women.
Board membership is gaining greater momentum, with women constituting around 30% of Board members. However, 29.8% of companies have no female representation on their Board. A similar proportion have no women in their key management teams. WOB advocates for 40% of leadership and board positions to be held by women.
More women in leadership drives better company financial performance - An increase of 10% points or more in female representation on the Boards of ASX-listed companies leads to a 4.9% increase in company market value.

Read the report online
Read the report PDF

Board and Executive Remuneration Report 2020

Governance Institute & AON, July 2020
Aon and Governance Institute have released the results of the 2020 Board and Executive Remuneration Survey, which provides a snapshot of remuneration levels for directors and senior executives from 433 organisations. The report found:

COVID has had a signficant impact, with 87% reducing Chair and NED fees and 72% reducing CEO fees.
Almost two thirds of ASX300 organisations did not increase board fees in FY19.

Read the Media Release online
Read the Media Release PDF

Virtual AGM Report and Handbook

Computershare, June 2020

AGM Report - Insights from online meetings in April & May 2020

Companies who have conducted their AGMs during the COVID-19 period have done a lot of the hard work, paving the way for others whose AGMs won’t take place until the peak season later this year.

The most challenging aspect for companies conducting an AGM have been the restrictions on social distancing and gatherings, which were constantly changing.

Computershare’s Virtual AGM Report provides insights into the online meetings landscape by sharing facts and observations from meetings held throughout April and May 2020. Discover how companies across Australia successfully managed their meetings. Download AGM Report PDF

AGM Handbook

Due to the various impacts of COVID-19 in the first half of 2020, many organisations have had to adapt and quickly develop contingency plans for their AGMs.

Computershare has developed a Virtual AGM Handbook, backed by extensive experience with virtual meetings, having delivered over 600 across the globe this year alone.

The handbook highlights the key elements for you to consider when planning an online meeting such as: technology, managing Q&A and preparing your board. View online Dowload AGM Handbook PDF

The Changing Industry Association Landscape - Whitepaper

Association Apocalypse. Navigating the Rapidly Changing Landscape to Ensure Future Success By: Belinda Moore, Strategic Membership Solutions.

Over the past 20 years the operating landscape for professional bodies and associations has changed dramatically in terms of technology (impacting service delivery); a generation of new stakeholders creating a generational divide; pressure from new competitors, mergers and acquisitions; changing business models; and pressure to introduce new membership structures.

This whitepaper discusses the changes and key ways organisations need to adapt in order to survive and thrive. Read the Whitepaper

ASX-100 Director Report Reveals Gender Inequality

In its inaugural report on the 563 non executive directors sitting on the ASX100, Apollo Communications found that despite corporate Australia being a public supporter of gender equality, on average male directors earn 20% more than their female colleagues ($263,144 vs $218,696), for no obvious reason.

Other key findings included a Bachelor of Arts is the most common degree held; distance is no barrier, with one in five living offshore; age is no limit, with the oldest director at 80 years and the youngest 33; Gordon Cairns is the highest paid ASX100 director, earning $1.8m; and the best paying boards are BHP, Resmed and Macquarie.

Read the Media Release

Financy Women's Index shows Women’s financial progress has been hit by early impact of COVID-19

Financy Women Index March Quarterly Report, 4 May 2020
Australian women are bearing the brunt of the initial economic impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as job cuts start to mount. The scorecard of women’s financial progress, the Financy Women’s Index, recorded its weakest start to a calendar year since 2015 and rose by just 0.4 percentage points.

The Index shows that women are 32 years from achieving economic equality with men, but this timeframe could expand depending on the long-term impact of COVID-19.

See page 30 of the report for a reference to WOB.
Read the Media Relase
Read the Full Report

Deloitte Global Women in the Boardroom Report - Sixth Edition

Deloitte, 6th Edition

This report shares the latest statistics on global boardroom diversity, exploring the efforts of 66 countries to increase gender diversity in their boardrooms and features insights on the political, social, and legislative trends behind the numbers. Flip to page 122 for the data on Australia and where WOB has been quoted. Read the report

Gender Balance on Australia Government Boards 2018-19

Office for Women 2018-19, Report Published 4 Feb 2020

The rate of women on Commonwealth government boards was at its highest in 2019, according to a new report from the Office for Women, with women holding 47.9% of 2313 government board positions, a 2.15% improvement since 2018. The report found that there was no increase in the number of women in chair and deputy chair roles, remaining at 35%.
Read the report

ESG, Climate Change Risk and Disclosure

Tim Nelson. Associate Professor of Economics at Griffith University for The Governance Institute, December 2018

There is a significant opportunity for companies to utilise non-financial ESG reporting to drive alignment between strategy, risk and societal expectations.
Read more

Governance Institute Ethics Index 2019

Now in its fourth year, this report quantifies the Australian adult population’s perception of the overall importance of ethics and what the actual level of ethical behaviour is within Australian society. In short, the overall 2019 score is up on 2018. The study details different sectors, organisations, occupations, issues and influences. Read more

The CS Gender 3000 in 2019 Report

Credit Suisse 2019

A global analysis of gender diversity on the boards of listed companies and assessment the roles of women in and around the C-Suite from over 3,000 companies stretching across 56 countries and comprising 30,000 executive positions.
Read more

5 bold ideas for shifting the dial on women in business by 2020

A Baker McKenzie Women's Agenda Leadership Roundtable, 2017
Baker McKenzie and Women’s Agenda brought together a roundtable of prominent leaders in Brisbane to discuss ideas for shifting the dial on women in leadership, particularly in professional services firms and large corporates. Read more

Charting the Course: Getting Women to the Top

Bain and Company, 2017
How frontline managers can reinforce the necessary mindsets to help women become senior leaders. Read more

The Female FTSE Board Report 2017

Cranfield, 2017
A retrospective analysis of data from 2007-2017. We have seen some impressive progress – for example the percentage female NEDs in the FTSE 100 has risen from 15% in 2007 to 33.3% today. However, the percentage of those female NEDs holding Chair or SID positions has hardly increased. Read more

Women in the Workplace 2017

McKinsey, 2017
More companies are committing to gender equality. But progress will remain slow unless we confront blind spots on diversity - particularly regarding women of colour, and employee percents of the status quo. Read more

The power of flexibility: A key enabler to boost gender parity and employee engagement

Bain and Company, 2015
How Australian organisations can create positive flexible workplace conditions for both women and men. Read more

The secret to inclusion in Australian Workplaces: Psychological Safety

Catalyst, 2015
Learn just how inclusive leaders—those who enact the four behaviours of empowerment, accountability, courage, and humility (EACH)—achieve these results. Based on a survey of over 250 Australian professionals, it shows that EACH behaviours create psychological safety, cultivating the right conditions for inclusion and innovation. It also provides practical insights and tips from interviews with extraordinary leaders of highly successful and inclusive teams about the practice of EACH behaviours in Australian workplaces. Read more

ASX Corporate Governance Council Principles and Recommendations on Diversity

KPMG, 2014
This research is funded by ASX’s Education and Research Program. The purpose of the research is to assist listed entities to understand how their peers are complying with their reporting obligations under the ASX Listing Rules regarding the Diversity Recommendations. This may assist them with their own compliance through case studies and benchmarking. Read more

Gender diversity in top management: Moving corporate culture, moving boundaries

McKinsey, 2013
The paper notes that progress on gender diversity has been made in recent years and momentum has increased, but it also confirms that women are still underrepresented at the top of corporations, across all industries and at a global level. Read more

Trouble with childcare

The Australian Institute, David Baker, 2013
This paper finds that households reporting cost difficulties in 2010 were on average paying 9.6 per cent. More than one in five households in areas of low relative socio-economic advantage who reported cost difficulties were paying more than 10 per cent of disposable household income for childcare services. While affordability continued to be an issue, reported difficulties finding quality childcare and a childcare place more generally were at or near the lowest level since 2001. Childcare assistance provided by the government needs to be better targeted. Read more

CREATING A POSITIVE CYCLE: CRITICAL STEPS TO ACHIEVING GENDER PARITY IN AUSTRALIA

Bain and Company, 2013
It is time to appoint women to top roles to make a difference in Australian organisations.
Ironically, Australia’s pipeline of professional women has never been stronger. Since 1985, women have been graduating from university at higher rates than men; they have comprised approximately 60% of all graduates since 2000.1 These rates hold true for key disciplines, such as business and law, where females comprised 50% and 60%, respectively in 2011.2 These facts alone should place women among the most qualiﬁ ed candidates for entry-level positions and also create a sufﬁ ciently large pool of female candidates for progression through to the highest roles. An extremely positive and important reality is that these women are ambitious. Research by Bain & Company and Chief Executive Women (CEW) over the last three years has consistently found that women aspire to become senior business leaders at almost the same rate as men. Read more

Anatomy of Change: How Inclusive Cultures Evolve

Catalyst, 2013
In this report, we tell the story of Rockwell Automation’s North American Sales division and the central role that dialogue between whites and non-whites as well as between women and men is playing as the division works to evolve its culture into a more equitable and inclusive one. Read more

Accelerating the advancement of women in leadership: Listening, Learning, Leading

Male Champions of Change, 2013
Here we describe what we have tried and how it is going so far. None of us has everything right. We share a frustration that women’s representation in leadership hasn’t increased as much as we would like. However, we sense that genuine momentum for change, together with focused action, is translating into meaningful progress. We trust that sharing our experiences widely will help support progress in your organisations and across our community. Read more

Lessons from the leading edge of gender diversity

McKinsey & Company, 2013
Advancing women to the top may be a journey, but how to do so is no longer a mystery. New research points to four principles that can help just about any company. Read more

Mining for talent A study of women on boards in the mining industry

WIM (UK) and PwC, 2013
This is the first of three reports undertaken by Women in Mining (UK) in conjunction with our sponsors Anglo American, Rio Tinto, PwC and Latham & Watkins designed to widen the already well discussed debate about the lack of representation of women on boards to the mining industry. Read more

Women as Mentors: Does She or Doesn’t She? A Global Study of Businesswomen and Mentoring

Trend Reasearch, DDI, 2013
Women can benefit from mentoring — and from being mentors. So why aren’t more women engaging in mentoring relationships?
With such an influx of women into the business world, it would seem inevitable that more women would begin to fill executive offices. However, in 2012 there were no more women in top leadership positions at Fortune 500 companies than in 2011 (Catalyst, 2012). There are a few who successfully make it to the top of their field, but it is a long, hard climb. Among them are familiar names like Meg Whitman, Oprah Winfrey, Indra Nooyi, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. These are all very different women—from different backgrounds, with different education and careers spanning different industries. What they do have in common is the role that mentoring played in helping them along the way. Read more

The Female FTSE Board report 2012

Cranfield, 2012
Getting more women onto the boards of our top companies is good for our economy and good for women. There is growing evidence that companies with more diverse boards perform better: achieving higher sales, higher returns on invested capital and higher returns on equity. This report shows that more and more of our top companies are recognising the fresh perspectives, innovative ideas and experience that top women can bring. Read more

Gender Diversity and corporate performance

Credit Suisse, 2012
There has been considerable research on the impact of gender diversity on business. This report addresses one key question: does gender diversity within corporate management improve performance? While it is difficult to demonstrate definitive proof, no one can argue that the results in this report are not striking. In testing the performance of 2,360 companies globally over the last six years, our analysis shows that it would on average have been better to have invested in corporates with women on their management boards than in those without. Read more

Significance of the gender divide in financial services

Finsia, 2012
This latest biannual report measures differences in men’s and women’s perceptions of gender equity in their workplace. Through an online survey Finsia measured attitudes to policy responses to bridge the gender gap in financial services. Over 800 Finsia members responded to the survey when it was first launched in 2010. On the question of whether companies should develop and report against measurable targets to address the lack of women at executive level, the survey found: Read more

Australia and New Zealand Board of Directors Survey 2012

Heidrick and Struggles, 2012
In an era of unprecedented complexity, globalisation and disruptive shifts in business models, the structure of the boards needed to govern our organisations is of utmost importance. If companies are to compete in the future and respond effectively to multiple stakeholders, they need to embrace diversity, fully understand their customers, and innovate to meet their needs. It is the role of boards to set the tone. Read more

Women on Boards: FTSE 100 boards

Lord Davies, 2012
Over the last year we have seen an unprecedented pace of change in the boardrooms of UK plc. We have seen a growing recognition of the importance of including more women in decision-making roles and of the benefits gained by society, the economy and business in doing so. Read more

Women Matter: Making the Breakthrough

McKinsey, 2012
Over the last year we have seen an unprecedented pace of change in the boardrooms of UK plc. We have seen a growing recognition of the importance of including more women in decision-making roles and of the benefits gained by society, the economy and business in doing so. Read more

Is there a payoff from top team diversity

McKinsey, 2012
Between 2008 and 2010, companies with more diverse top teams were also top financial performers. That’s probably no coincidence.
There are many reasons companies with more diverse executive teams should outperform their peers: fielding a team of top executives with varied cultural backgrounds and life experiences can broaden a company’s strategic perspective, for example. And relentless compe- tition for the best people should reward organizations that cast their nets beyond traditional talent pools for leadership. Read more

Treading the boards - governing arts organisations in Australia

Ann-Maree Moodie, 2012
This article reflects preliminary findings from my ongoing research into the governance of arts organisations in Australia. It is based partly on a continuing series of interviews with chairs, board members, chief executives, artistic directors, artists, arts administrators and bureaucrats, corporate sponsors and private donors who participated in offthe-record interviews between March and August this year. Read more

Reflecting gender diversity

YMCA, ACOSS & Women on Boards, 2012
Our landmark survey of gender diversity in the leadership of the community sector is both a good news and a bad news story.
In a sector where women comprise up to 85% of the workforce, women make up 51.4% of the board directors among organisations who responded to the survey. This compares favourably against the gender composition of both public and the private sector boards. However, women are less likely to be in the formal office bearer positions than men – the percentage never rises above 50%, meaning that over half of all formal positions reported are still held by men (only 44% of boards surveyed had a woman as a President; 37% as a Vice President; 31% as Treasurer; and 35% as Secretary). Read more

Out of School Hours Care and Women’s Labour Force Participation: Innovations in Provision & Supply

NFAW, 2012
In 2008 the NFAW commissioned polling from News poll of the arrangements working parents made for care for their school age children. It found a high level of informal care arrangements existed, and that use of formal, accredited care services was more common the higher the family income. NFAW, with ERA and the Economic Security for Women Alliance (eS4W) obtained the agreement of the Office for Women to conduct a further exploration of our of school hours care as the final element of the 2011 project. Read more

The influence of gender of the board of directors on the financial performance of australian public companies

School of accounting RMIT University, 2012
The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of gender of the board of directors on the financial performance of Australian publicly listed companies, in order to establish if there is a relationship between the number and percentage of women on the board and firm’s financial performance. The starting point for this study is to understand the board of directors and their responsibilities, then to investigate some of the previous studies in this field and their findings. Using the resource based theory the hypothesis that firms employing greater percentage of women on their boards will experience relatively better financial performance is developed. Read more

How to make your insurer love you

Ava Bentley, 2011
"Many professional indemnity and directors' and officers' insurance claims land on my desk which could have been prevented." Read more

THE MYTH OF THE IDEAL WORKER: DOES DOING ALL THE RIGHT THINGS REALLY GET WOMEN AHEAD?

Catalyst, 2011 - Nancy M. Carter & Christine Silva
In this report we continue to address the gender gap myths by using facts to dispel or confirm the conventional wisdom regarding the careers of these high potentials—the next generation of leaders. Read more

Women on boards

Lord Davies of Abersoch, 2011
Concerned about the slow rate of progress, the incoming UK Government pledged in the Coalition Government Agreement to “look to promote gender equality on the boards of listed companies”. As a first step Edward Davey, the Business Minister and Lynne Featherstone, the Minister for Women, invited Lord Davies of Abersoch to undertake a review of the current situation, to identify the barriers preventing more women reaching the boardroom and to make recommendations regarding what government and business could do to increase the proportion of women on corporate boards. Read more

Unlocking the full potential of women at work

McKinsey, 2011
This year, we undertook a more ambitious US-based research project with help of 60 corporations, almost all in the Fortune 500 or of similar size. We were able to explore talent pipelines and gender-diversity practices in depth. Read more

ASX 500 - Women Leaders

Reibey Institute, 2011
Gender diversity remains a key focus for many organisations, perhaps most notably the ASX500 which includes som of Australia's largest and most influential companies. The Reibey Institute is proud to deliver this second annual research note on ASX500 Women Leaders which we hope is a positive and constructive contributor to our community achieving gender diversity. Read more

Personal influence at work: diversity perspective

UGM, 2011
UGM decided to explore what individual-based factors in the workplace make a difference to people getting ahead. Initial research led to us using a ‘personal influence’ lens. What sources of influence do people draw on in the workplace? Read more

Claire Braund, Churchill Fellowship Report

Claire Braund received a Churchill Fellowship in 2009 to examine what the UK, Norway and France were doing to increase the number of women on boards and in management/ executive roles. In six weeks she interviewed 60 people, presented to a professional women’s network and a university forum and attended a global women’s forum as one of 1,300 delegates. Her findings provides a relevant and timely international perspective on the debate in Australia regarding gender balance on company boards and opportunities for women in the workplace in general.

Read the report

Annual Superannuation Bulletin

APRA, 2010
This selected feature explores the current gender diversity of licensed trustee boards and compares these results to the ACSI expectation and goals noted in the Cooper Review. It also provides trends in the gender diversity of trustee boards over the past five years. Read more

Level the playing field: A call for action on gender parity in Australia

Bain & Company, 2010
Australian executives still don’t believe there is an equal opportunity for women to be selected for leadership positions. Companies can take three measures to close the gap—and create a stronger talent pipeline. Read more

The great disappearing act: gender parity up the corporate ladder

Bain & Company, 2010
A Bain & Company survey shows that current gender-parity initiatives are just not working. Organizations need bold, new approaches to bring women back on the leadership track— and double the talent pool. Read more

Pipeline's Broken Promise

Catalyst, 2010
Just give it time. Not yet, but soon. When women get the right education, the right training, the right work experience, and the right aspirations—to succeed at the highest levels of business — then we’ll see parity. So goes the refrain justifying why more women aren’t well-represented at the helm of global companies, in boardrooms, and in C-suites. Read more

Gender agenda: Unlocking the power of diversity in the boardroom

An Insync Surveys study in conjunction with Gender Worx and Board Benchmarking, 2010
This study determined that male dominated boards and gender diverse boards (boards comprising at least 33% women) are meaningfully different in a number of important respects. Analysis showed that the men and women on the gender diverse boards thought similarly and that men on gender diverse boards thought differently from men on male dominated boards. That is, the reason for the meaningful difference in the way that gender diverse boards perceived matters was not as a result of women on those boards perceiving matters differently to their male counterparts. Read more

Women at the top of corporations: Making it happen

McKinsey, 2010
In 2010, the Women Matter study shows that although a majority of leaders recognize the impact of gender diversity on business performance, this belief does not translate into actions. Indeed, gender diveristy is not high on companies' strategic agenda and the implementation of dedicated programs remains limited overall. Read more

Empowering women – monitoring Australia’s response to the GFC

NFAW, 2010 - Marie Coleman, Chair Social Policy Committee
First, we commissioned a research report from an independent research body, The Australia Institute, which analysed available official data. This showed that while job losses for women were not as substantial as we had feared, we could identify a very significant degree of under-employment, and of hidden unemployment, among women. This was strongly regional in its impact. Read more

20 first's 2010

Womenomics 101 survey, 2010
It’s time to move beyond the current focus on boards. A more revelatory indicator is the Executive Committee. After great progress on drawing attention to the dearth of gender balance on boards, this survey invites you to look deeper into companies, and use metrics that distinguish those serious about gender balance from the rest. Read more

Attitudes to Maternity leave in australia

Auspoll, 2009
The research highlights widespread agreement that the Government should introduce funding for paid parental leave, as part of the next Federal Budget. Read more

Women leaders, a competitive edge in and after the crisis

McKinsey, 2009
In 2009, for Women Matter 3, our aim was to understand how gender divesity in companies was evolving - how the global economic crisis might have affected the programs and priorities of female executive development - and to identify whetehr the leadership behaviors more often adopted by women were still appropriate in times of crisis and beyond. Read more

Australia's Hidden Resource: The Economic Case For Increasing Female Participation

JBWere, 2009
Closing the gap between male and female employment rates would have important implications for the Australian economy. We estimate that closing this gap would boost the level of Australian GDP by 11%. Indeed, much progress in closing this gap has already occurred over the past 30 years with the rise in the female employment rate since 1974 boosting economic activity by 22%. In this respect, Australia is only 2/3rds of the way to unlocking the hidden value of the female labour pool. Read more

Female leadership, a competitive edge for the future

McKinsey, 2008
Gender diversity is not just a social concern. Our new study suggests that it could also create a competitive edge to address the global challenges that corporations will face in the near future. Read more

Female Leadership in Australia

Peter Berry consultancy, 2008
What does it look like and how does it differ from their Male counterparts? Read more

Gender diversity, a corporate performance driver

McKinsey, 2007
The study suggests that the companies where women are most strongly represented at boards or top-management level are also the companies that perform best.
Confirming the existence of the gender gap - most notably in the composition of corporate management bodies - the McKinsey study offers fact-based insights into the importance for companies of fostering the development of women in the business arena, so that a greater number attain positins of high responsibly. Read more

Why boards need IT skills – more specifically - why boards need women with IT

Sonja Bernhardt, AWISE 2007
In this paper the importance of IT knowledge to overall board governance and the value of women with IT skills as board members are explored. A gender
profile is developed from the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), the Equal Opportunity for Women Agency (EOWA) and the Women on Boards 2004 reports. A discussion on relative contributions to board performance is undertaken. Read more

The Validity of Measuring Director and Board Performance: Continuum or Categorisation?

Susan P. Jauncey & David N. Moseley-Greatwich, 2006
This paper investigated the effects, ramifications and limitations of categorising and labelling Directors and Boards when measuring or evaluating performance. Read more

Women Step Up The Boardroom Ladder

Boardroom Partners, 2006
A research paper examining the participation and progression of female non-executive directors in the ASX 200 as publicly disclosed in 2005 Annual Reports and on company websites. Read more