FACTBase Bulletin 54 - Gender in the C-Suite on the WA ASX 100

This FACTBase Bulletin explores gender equality in Perth as measured by examining the number of women filling C-Suite positions on the WA 100 ASX. It has been prepared to provide a quantitative base following on from the Committee for Perth’s 2015 report on gender equality – Filling the Pool.

Key Findings

• Approximately 9.5 per cent of C-Suite positions on the WA ASX 100 are held by women and 90.5 per cent by men.
• Female representation in the C-Suite declines sharply from the WA ASX 1-10 (16.7 per cent) to WA ASX 11-20 (3.8 per cent), but rises to 12.0 per cent among the WA ASX 21-50. A stark difference in female representation is observed between the WA ASX 1-50 (11.7 per cent) and WA ASX 51-100 (6.2 per cent).
• Women currently only fill 2.8 per cent (n=4) of Chairperson, CEO, and Managing Director roles on the WA ASX 100. The percentage of women rises over four fold (12.3 per cent, n=47) in the senior management teams, reflecting that there is a larger talent pool in the female leadership pipeline not advancing to the top management tier.
• The most common senior managerial roles to which women are appointed are company secretaries and joint company secretaries (30.5 per cent), general managers and group managers (20.3 per cent) and C-positions, such as Chief of Human Resources, Chief of Operations Officer, Chief of Finances Officer, etc., (15.3 per cent).
• Of those who have a Postgraduate qualification, the majority of women in the C-Suite have a Masters degree (45.2 per cent), Postgraduate Diplomas and Graduate Certificates (32.3 per cent), followed by Masters in Business Administration (16.1 per cent). In terms of professional qualifications held by these women, they include chartered accountants (35.3 per cent), chartered secretaries (17.6 per cent) and chartered practising accountants (11.8 per cent), which complemented the managerial positions.