EXPERT COMMENT Media and Communications Tel. +61 3 9925 3176 Fax +61 3 9662 2739 View RMIT media releases and find experts: www.rmit.edu.au/newsroom MELBOURNE BRUNSWICK BUNDOORA FISHERMAN’S BEND POINT COOK HAMILTON HO CHI MINH CITY HANOI –– Expert comment on women business leaders –– New research shows the number of women on corporate boards and in top management positions has fallen to 10 per cent in 2008, down from 12 per cent two years ago. The survey by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency released today shows just one in 10 executive managers in Australia's top 200 companies are women. What does research show about the barriers for women in business? What is the impact of the gender pay gap, at all levels of the workplace ladder? What strategies can employers and governments use to address the systemic barriers to women’s representation at the highest levels of business? RMIT University’s Robyn Dale is an expert on women in the workplace. Ms Dale has researched extensively on women and women’s work including part- time work, pay equity, women and finances and creating respectful workplaces. A lecturer in organisational studies and contemporary management issues at RMIT, Ms Dale leads the URCOT applied research centre, which studies issues faced by women at work, at home and in wider society. The centre wrote the research report Pay Equity: How to Address the Gender Pay Gap in 2005 for Industrial Relations Victoria. Ms Dale is available for interview on issues related to the 2008 EOWA Census of Women in Leadership. For interviews: RMIT University’s Robyn Dale, 9663 4555 or 0414 706 148. For general media enquiries: RMIT University Media and Communications, Gosia Kaszubska, (03) 9925 3176 or 0417 510 735. 28 October, 2008 |