Top women go missing

Women make up just 10 per cent of directors of FTSE 100 companies and barely 20 per cent of Parliament, according to a new survey by the Equal Opportunities Commission. Sex and Power: Who Runs Britain? 2007 looks at women in senior positions across the public and private sector.

This year's survey shows that women account for only 10 per cent of the senior judiciary, 10 per cent of directors at FTSE 100 companies, 12 per cent of senior police officers, 14 percent of local authority council leaders, 17 per cent of editors of national newspaper, and 20 per cent of MPs. Ethnic minority women are especially under represented, accounting for just 0.4 per cent of FTSE 100 directors and 0.3 per cent of parliamentarians.

While women are reaching 'critical mass' in some areas, including as heads of professional bodies (33 per cent) and national arts organisations (33 per cent), the pace of change remains painfully slow in most fields. There has been little change since the EOC first published the survey three years ago.

At the current rate of progress, the EOC has calculated that it will take another 20 years to achieve equality in the civil service top management, 40 years to achieve an equal number of senior women in the judiciary, 60 years to achieve an equal number of female directors at FTSE 100 companies, and up to 200 years – another 40 elections – to achieve an equal number of women in Parliament.

To read the report, go to: www.eoc.org.uk/pdf/sexandpower_GB_2007.pdf