Encouraging Women into Senior Management Positions – How Coaching Can Help [Summary], Broughton A, Miller L, Research Report 462, Institute for Employment Studies, March 2009, a study on behalf of The Foundation of Coaching [via Stuart Basefsky]

“Despite long-standing anti-discrimination legislation in the US, UK and across Europe, women still remain under-represented in many occupations, most noticeably in high-level posts. This phenomenon is seen at its most extreme when the composition of company boards is considered. In the USA, women constitute on average 14.7 per cent of board members on Fortune 500 companies; in the UK, women hold 11 per cent of FTSE 100 directorships, according to the 2008 Sex and Power report published by the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Encouraging women who hold senior management positions to move into board-level positions is viewed as a crucial part of the global drive to improve equality between men and women. There is likely to be a range of reasons why women in senior jobs fail to progress up to board level and issues connected with discrimination and the ‘glass ceiling’ have been well characterised. However, in some cases there may be an element of choice: some women may simply decide not to progress to board level despite being coached for and offered such positions.”