Double the number of women managers this decade

Citation

(1999), "Double the number of women managers this decade", Work Study, Vol. 48 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.1999.07948baf.003

Double the number of women managers this decade

Double the number of women managers this decade

Women executives are forging ahead in the workplace and now hold nearly a fifth of management jobs in UK companies.

The number of women executives has more than doubled since the beginning of the 1990s (according to the latest National Management Salary Survey published by the Institute of Management (IM) and Remuneration Economics), and grown tenfold since the survey started 25 years ago.

The character and culture of the workforce has changed significantly during a quarter of a century. In 1973, women made up 37 per cent of the workforce and women managers were almost non-existent, comprising less than 2 per cent of the two million managers in the UK. Today, half the workforce is women and the proportion of women managers approaching one in five (18 per cent) ­ up from 8 per cent in 1990.

However, the picture is far more positive for certain key roles and in the UK's dominant services sector where women managers are most successful. Half of personnel managers are women, followed by more than four in ten managers in insurance and pensions and over a third of marketing managers are female. This contrasts with manufacturing, research and development, purchasing and contracting, where fewer than 10 per cent of managers are women.

Mary Chapman, director general of the Institute of Management, commented:

Nearly 80 per cent of UK employment is now in the service sectors. It is in this flourishing sector that women are really making their mark and establishing themselves on an equal footing with their male colleagues.

Women managers are also gaining ground when it comes to their pay packets. While male managers' pay rose by 6.8 per cent in 1998, women managers have seen their salaries increase by 7.7 per cent. The average female manager is 37 years old and earns £31,622. Her male colleague is aged 43 ­ six years older ­ and earns £37,235.

In the boardrooms of the UK the news is not so good. Women directors' pay rose by 7.4 per cent, behind that of their male counterparts who received average increases of 10.3 per cent. Today's average female director is 41 years old and earns £66,711. Her male colleague is 48 years old and earns £94,742.

"Looking at the earnings of women directors, the real issue would seem to be position", said Ms Chapman. "Chief executives and finance directors are the real heavy hitters in terms of boardroom pay and women are as yet largely absent from these roles, which partly explains the earnings gap."

Female directors are still vastly under-represented and occupy only 3.6 per cent of positions ­ a slight drop from 4.5 per cent the previous year (see Table I). However, in certain key strategic roles, they are achieving greater success. Nearly a fifth (18 per cent) of personnel directors and 13 per cent of marketing directors are women. However, despite the size of the sample, the research identified no female directors in areas such as manufacturing and production, purchasing and contracting, insurance and pensions.

Ms Chapman commented:

Overall, however, these figures are encouraging. Throughout the nineties women have made steady headway into management level positions. The trend in the boardroom is moving in the right direction, despite a slight dip in the 1998 figures. But there is still some way to go before women really break through the glass ceiling and reach the boardroom in any significant numbers.