ABSTRACT
The number of women in management in the UK has grown, and continues to grow, so that the proportion of women among UK managers is 34.8 per cent, slightly higher than the European Union average of 33.5 per cent (ONS, 2013). However the lack of equality that women managers face is quite striking. There is particularly a lack of female managers in the most senior positions. The top positions are largely filled by white able-bodied men (Gatrell and Swan, 2008). Less than one third of the UK’s most influential jobs are held by women. For example the armed forces has just 1.3 per cent of women in top posts whereas the judiciary has 13.2 per cent (Holt, 2012). A good deal of concern has been expressed about women’s lack of success in breaking through the ‘glass ceiling’, not least by women themselves who believe that the barriers to them progressing in their careers have not diminished (ILM, 2011). Equal pay is also an issue, as are attitudes towards women in management. The slow progress towards equality is a concern. Before we look in more detail at women in manage - ment, let’s look at the labour force characteristics to tease out whether there are fundamental differences between men and women’s employment.
