What is preventing women from becoming leaders in the workplace? Tell us in this survey

Help shape the future of women’s leadership development! Take Women & Leadership Australia’s 5-minute survey to share what’s holding you back, and what you need to succeed. Your insights will directly influence future initiatives supporting women’s advancement, and you’ll enter the draw to win one of three prizes, including tickets to the 2025 Australian Women’s Leadership Symposium or an enrolment in the Vital Leadership Masterclass Series.

There have been big shifts in the representation of women leading Australia at all levels from government and non-profits to business, but there is still a long way to go.

That’s why Women & Leadership Australia is running this survey to identify what exactly is holding women back, what has helped those who have made it to the top and what can be done to shift the stats in the right direction.

Australia has had 31 prime ministers, only one has been a woman.

However, the number of seats held by women is higher than ever before and representation is growing in government administration.

Government data shows women now make up more than half of senior executive positions in the Australian Public Service (53%) and on government boards (52%).

Exciting changes are also being observed in the private sector with more women launching businesses and stepping into senior leadership roles.

However, the federal government’s Gender Equality Strategy Agency reveals that it will take five decades to achieve gender parity in CEO roles in corporate Australia – with women making up just nine per cent of CEOs in the ASX300 in 2023.

Women of Indigenous and multicultural backgrounds, and those living with a disability, are even more invisible.

A recent study by Monash University found that intersectionality offers clues as to what perpetuates social inequality, discrimination and marginalisation with diverse leaders expressing despair about the lack of culturally and linguistically diverse women in leadership.

Lead author Professor Helen Skouteris says Australia is one of the world’s most ethnically and linguistically diverse countries.

“Yet women in leadership roles are currently not representing this diversity,” she said.

“We cannot continue to focus solely on gender inequity; the lack of cultural diversity in women in leadership is equally as serious and must be addressed urgently.”

Of the few women who have reached the top, Forbes Australia says they’re making bank.

They run some of the country’s largest organisations and are producing strong results.

The peak body for women leaders across the private and public sectors, Chief Executive Women, says companies with women at the top also improve accountability.

“There appears to be a strong relationship between public accountability and progress of gender equality in leadership,” the organisation states in its Senior Executive Census 2023.

“Scrutiny is good for gender equality.”

So, if women at the top means good business, why is progress slow in the private sector?

Is it gender bias or other types of discrimination, lack of time or support from upper management, or are there other issues at play? 

Women & Leadership Australia wants to find out with this survey and it also wants to uncover what development opportunities may help.

Understanding the drivers for this lack of representation is critical to addressing them.

This survey aims to spotlight the barriers, systems and structures that prevent women from taking charge as leaders in the workplace.

Women & Leadership Australia, which provides courses and symposiums on leadership, believes issues like pay transparency and workplace policies that allow for flexibility and inclusion can be game changers for the trajectory of talented women.

It has also been measuring the impacts of women-only leadership programs and similar activities in recent years.

But it wants to hear your thoughts.

This survey is a chance for women leaders or those with leadership goals to share your experiences, challenges and ideas about what can empower the way forward.

It is made possible with the support of Women & Leadership Australia. If you see yourself as one of the women who is helping to move the dial on representation in leadership, we would love to hear your thoughts in this five-minute survey!