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UK: Nearly half of managers in third sector are women
A report reveals that there are twice as many female executives in the third sector than in other sectors of the economy
di Staff
Senior management positions in the UK?s voluntary sector are twice as likely to be taken on by women than in other public or private sectors, reveals Agenda Consulting?s latest People Count report.
The research, that analysed 223 voluntary organisations in the UK, found that 33 per cent of these had female chief executives. Women in the world of charity?s were also found to hold 43% of senior management positions compared to only 22% in other sectors, while overall there are 23% more female managers at all levels within non profit organisations than within other areas of the economy.
Positive as these figures sound, the cause of such a high percentage of female managers within NGOs may have something to do with the fact that 70% of the voluntary work force is made up by women. In the public and private spheres only 46% of the workforce is female. The Director of Agenda Consulting, Roger Parry, confirms this view by explaining that there are two ways of looking at the research?s results. Either by saying that the ?glass ceiling? is finally coming down in the sector. Or by looking at it ?the other way which is that 70 per cent of the workforce in the sector is female but only 43 per cent of senior managers are women.?
In either case the fact remains that women in the third sector are more likely to reach the highest rungs in the career ladder than anywhere else. Rachel Whale, founder of Third Sector Women, an organisation that helps women develop a career in the non profit sector said she thought more research was needed to analyse the progress of women within the sector its self, to determine whether women were being recruited from other sectors or whether they were building their career paths within the third sector from the start. She added, however, that whatever happened in other sectors should not affect how the standards were set in the third sector.
Agenda Consulting is a benchmarking and consulting company based in Oxford, UK. Their People Count of the Voluntary Sector is a human resource benchmarking tool tailored to the specific needs of the voluntary and community sector, endorsed by NCVO, People in Aid, SHARE, and the Mental Health Providers Forum.
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