Uneven caring responsibilities combined with a lack of flexible work options have prevented women from staying in senior positions, research suggests.

Key Findings

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has indicated that more part-time bosses and co-CEOs could help retain women in leadership roles and reduce Australia’s gender pay gap. Currently, women earn $0.79 for every $1 a man makes on average.

WGEA's research, conducted in collaboration with Curtin University, revealed that while women are reaching senior positions, they are more likely to leave, which widens the pay gap and contributes to their under-representation in high-paying roles. The analysis of WGEA data covering 5.4 million employees found:

  • Full-time women were promoted more often than men in 2024-25.
  • Men were slightly more likely to be promoted to management positions.
  • Women in management were more likely to resign than their male counterparts, at 13.8% compared to 12%.

Challenges Faced by Women

Christine Castley, WGEA’s chief executive, stated that uneven caring responsibilities and a lack of flexible work options hinder women's ability to remain in senior positions. She noted:

“

"There is very much an embedded idea that management roles can never be part-time, and probably what flows from that is most flexible arrangements don’t apply to management roles."

The report highlighted that most women either stop working or shift to part-time roles after having their first child. In sectors like health care and social assistance, where women make up 75% of the workforce, they hold only about 50% of CEO positions. Furthermore, women account for just 20% of board chairs or chief executives in Australian companies.