What you know and who you know: “successful” women’s experiences of accessing board positions

While women have continued to increase their representation in the paid workforce, their representation in the most senior ranks of management in Australia remains very low. In this paper, the backgrounds and experiences of women board members of publicly‐listed companies in Australia are explored to identify the factors they perceive as important to their nomination and selection to boards. It seems that these “successful” women have overcome the resistance to including women on boards by not only being well‐educated and able to demonstrate a strong track record in their field to be nominated to a board position, but also having valuable business contacts. For women seeking to access this most privileged level of management, the importance of networks should not be overlooked.