Women face 70-year wait for top jobs equality

Published: Tuesday, August 16, 2011

It will take 70 years to achieve parity between men and women in the country's top jobs, according to a report released today by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The survey Sex and Power 2011, dubbed a "call to arms" by women's employment-rights campaigners, reveals that women represent only 12.5 per cent of directors of FTSE 100 companies. They also account for just 22.2 per cent of MPs, an imbalance which would take 14 general elections to redress. It also notes little change in the figures presented in the last report, released in 2008.

Figures show that women in the media are faring even worse than three years ago, representing 9.5 per cent of national newspaper editors, a fall from the 13.6 per cent recorded in 2008, and 6.7 per cent of FTSE 350 media companies' chief executives, down from 10.5 per cent in 2008. However, 26.1 per cent of directors of major museums and art galleries are women, up from 17.4 per cent.

The report also found that 12.9 per cent of senior members of the judiciary are women and there has been a slight fall in the number of female university vice-chancellors: 14.3 per cent, down from 14.4 per cent in 2008.

Click here to read the full article from the UK Independent.