[WiLT] Women excel in top-level positions in the third sector

[WiL Admin]

Women excel in top-level positions in the third sector
But number of BME managers is under-representative

The proportion of women in top-level positions in the voluntary sector
is twice as high as the equivalent figure for the rest of the economy,
research has revealed.

Agenda Consulting's latest People Count report shows women account for
43 per cent of senior management positions in the charity sector. The
equivalent figure for the private and public sectors is 22 per cent.

The proportion of female managers at all levels is also much higher in
the third sector than in the rest of the economy. Among charities and
voluntary organisations, 60 per cent of managers are women; in the
rest of the UK economy, the figure is 37 per cent.

Of the 223 voluntary organisations that took part in the research, 33
per cent have female chief executives.

Roger Parry, director of Agenda Consulting, said the figures could be
interpreted in two ways. "You could say that it means the glass
ceiling is coming down in the sector," he said. "But you could look at
it the other way, which is that 70 per cent of the workforce in the
sector is female but only 43 per cent of senior managers are women."

Rachel Whale, founder of Third Sector Women, which supports and
promotes women in senior positions in the sector, said additional
research was needed to provide more information on the movement of
women between jobs in the sector.

"It would be interesting to see whether women are progressing within
the sector or whether they have come in from other sectors," she said.
"No matter how low the proportions are in other sectors, it should not
affect how we set our standards."

Maria Aguilar, director of the human resources consultancy HR Services
Partnership, said: "Organisations in the sector tend to recruit for
middle and senior management positions from within the organisations
themselves and the sector.

"As more women tend to hold these posts, this has the effect of
placing more women in senior management positions."

FACT FILE:
* Only 5.2 per cent of third sector managers are from ethnic
minorities. The UK average is 8 per cent.
* The sector spends 20 per cent less on training than the private
sector.
* Only 16 per cent of charities and voluntary organisations carry out
career planning for employees. For the UK economy as a whole, the
equivalent figure is 48 per cent.

Source
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/DailyBulletin/745146/Women-excel-third-sector/CEDCB25E18D6D84132E4A0EE7C0863AC/

Posted on WiLT blog at
http://www.freecharity.org.uk/~womeninlondon/?p=429