ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that working with a coach might help to decrease the drain of skills and increase the representation of women at senior levels in organizations, institutions and the government. It looks at the context, the influences, and the motivation for excluding or including women in the boardroom. The chapter focuses on matters that affect the inclusion or exclusion of women in senior executive roles. It also argues that women can fulfil leadership roles, but have to do so within a culture that is unconsciously disabling them. The chapter presents a socio-technical perspective of change. The concept of a "power elite" is used by Richard Zweigenhaft, who proposes that thinking about access and exclusion is the essence of the issue. The chapter considers a number of possible hypotheses that might shed some light on the phenomenon of institutional-level exclusion of women from holding senior positions.
