A view from the top: women on the boards of public companies

In this paper, women’s representation on public boards in Australia is explored from two perspectives. First, a gender profile of board membership is developed from the public reports submitted to the Australian Stock Exchange. This analysis suggests that in Australia, the majority of public boards comprise only men and where there are women on public boards, they are likely to be the lone woman amongst many men when the board meeting comes to order. Second, women’s own reports of how they accessed and have experienced membership of public boards are explored. What many women suggest is that in accessing boards, it is often the case that it is “who you know not what you know”.