Tackling gender diversity at senior organisational levels: A road map for women's advancement

Abstract

Female representation at senior organizational levels continues to lag well behind male representation. There is evidence of a positive relationship between female representation at a senior level and female representation at the level immediately below; the trickle-down effect. The effect has been identified in the Australian public sector, with increases in female executive representation leading to increases in female representation in the executive feeder group. Organizations can initiate a trickle-down effect by appointing women to senior roles, but how do they support the effect and then accelerate it? We interviewed 13 senior managers from within an Australian public service. We use the women’s advancement literature, focusing on first- and second- generation bias, as a framework for investigating the policies and practices designed to overcome barriers to women’s advancement. We compare the policies, practices, accelerators and decelerators in the service to determine the mix that best supports and accelerates the trickle-down effect. We found policies and practices within the public service are generally ad hoc and target first- generation gender bias, but not the more subtle second-generation bias. We propose a list of practices organizations can adopt to support and accelerate the trickle-down effect.