The number of women reaching senior leadership positions within organisations has slowed and stalled since the 1990s. These authors set out to investigate the reasons behind this, and whether it’s long-hour cultures that are holding women back.

To continue reading, log in or become a member

Affiliate membership offers instant access to CIPD resources without the need for assessments or study, or explore your options to become a professional member of the CIPD to demonstrate your commitment to the world of work.

  • Access to exclusive, up-to-date resources
  • Become part of a community to learn, debate and connect with other people professionals
  • Free access to a series of CIPD learning courses and a discount on the rest of our catalogue
Instant access Explore membership

Reviewed by

Rachel Suff, Senior Policy Adviser, Employee Relations, CIPD

Rachel Suff joined the CIPD as a policy adviser in 2014 to increase the CIPD’s public policy profile and engage with politicians, civil servants, policy-makers and commentators to champion better work and working lives. An important part of her role is to ensure that the views of the profession inform CIPD policy thinking on issues such as health and wellbeing, employee engagement and employment relations. As well as conducting research on UK employment issues, she helps guide the CIPD’s thinking in relation to European developments affecting the world of work. Rachel’s prior roles include working as a researcher for XpertHR and as a senior policy adviser at Acas.

More on this topic

Data

Data hub

Explore the evidence behind workforce trends

Data

Workforce diversity - Sex

Compare your organisations breakdown by sex against UK benchmarks.

Data

Workforce diversity - Ethnicity

Compare the breakdown by ethnicity in your organisation against UK benchmarks.

Data

Workforce diversity - Disability

Compare the breakdown by disability in your organisation against UK benchmarks.

Latest Bitesize research

Bitesize research

Leading an agile workforce – lessons from the NHS

Katie Stickland, CIPD Knowledge Exchange Manager, reviews research examining how strategies around agile working were utilised within the NHS and distils the lessons for HR professionals, line managers and organisations

For Members
Bitesize research

How employers can organise their workforce to optimise productivity

We summarise research examining how the way workers are matched to jobs can have important implications for current and future productivity for their organisations

For Members
People in an office
Bitesize research

Using redeployments to retain and strengthen knowledge

Research examines how organisations can use redeployments to properly manage and grow knowledge sharing across their business and wider networks

For Members
Bitesize research

Is office space essential for productive work?

Evaluating the pros and cons of working in shared office spaces, and how they impact on productivity

For Members
All Bitesize research