Australia still falls well behind many other western nations in terms of equality for women in accessing resources and opportunities, ranking 23rd in the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report 2011. This imbalance is strikingly evident in local government, as recent research by representative bodies has revealed.
Nationally, women make up a mere 25 percent of elected representatives and, while 43 percent of council employees are women, only an estimated seven percent are in executive roles. Given that councils are often perceived as the most direct form of community representation, and women make up 51 percent of the community, the gender imbalance is stark.
The Australian Local Government Women’s Association (ALGWA), in partnership with state local government associations, is holding a ‘Balance the Imbalance’ conference in each state and territory throughout 2012. The ALGWA hopes to highlight some of the reasons why women are so poorly represented in local government and find ways to address the obstacles through targeted campaigns.
One of the major concerns of the conference is that, despite concerted effort and commitment to increasing women’s participation in local government, as both elected representatives and in managerial roles, there has been negligible progress since 2009, when the ALGWA released the report, ‘The 50:50 Vision – A National Program for Gender Equity in Local Government’.
Noelene Duff, CEO of the City of Whitehorse, addressed the Victorian ‘Balance the Imbalance’ conference as part of the CEO Panel. As one of only 12 female CEOs in Victoria, out of 79 councils, Noelene is keenly aware of the gendered inequities in the Australian workforce.
“Australia scores low [on a global scale] in terms of female workforce participation as a result of low scores in a number of categories, including political empowerment, economic participation and opportunity, and wage equality.”
Noelene goes on to ask, “Why is this the case in most of the developed or ‘wealthier’ countries around the globe?” The answer, according to Noelene’s research, lies in women’s relationship to motherhood. Retaining women in employment after motherhood, and providing them with adequate opportunities to progress up the ladder, is a key concern.
“Employers have created flexible arrangements, part time employment options, etc, but they have not figured out how to assist women on a career path that brings them back to viable and fulfilling roles in the workforce,” said Noelene.
While there are few studies that suggest concrete actions that can be taken to redress the gender imbalance, Noelene cited the work of American academics, Alice Eagley and Linda Carli, who provide a long list of ‘management interventions that work’.
Of these, the most relevant for local government are: increasing the awareness of the psychological drivers behind the prejudice against female leaders and working to dispel these perceptions; ensuring a critical mass of women in executive positions and avoiding having a sole female member of any team; assisting women to invest in networking and in building up their reputation and exposure; offering women demanding projects or assignments to expose them to more experience; allowing employees with parental responsibilities more time to prove themselves worthy of promotion; welcoming women back to the workplace after an absence; and finally, institutionalising family friendly practices that make women feel comfortable in their dual role.
If the sector is serious about improving women’s representation in management, councils need to turn their attention to increasing the workplace options for women, and to encouraging the kind of flexibility that allows women to access leadership roles.
