The Women's Leadership Network aims to develop a strong, dynamic and influential network of women leaders, to ensure equality of opportunity throughout the FE system.

Gender related factors in career progression report

The Women's Leadership Network (WLN) and the Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL) have published their report on gender-related factors in career progression, based on research carried out for them by the Learning Skills Network (LSN), which identified some key trends in the FE system.

Women, as well as men, are contributing to leadership and management of the FE sector in substantial numbers and at every level. Compared with the national picture for all occupational sectors, women are well represented in education management. More detailed consideration revealed, however, that there is still a significant 'glass ceiling' effect in the FE sector within senior management and governing bodies. The research also revealed under-representation of black and minority ethnic (BME) managers.

Sally Dicketts, chair of WLN, said, "The publication of our important research marks the launch of a new and committed network for female leaders and managers across the further education system. I am particularly keen to work with provider governing bodies so that we can share the learning contained in this research. Together, we can assess the potential impact on their organisations and how they understand and consider women's issues in their recruitment of principals and governors.

Lynne Sedgmore, chief executive of CEL, said, "At the end of the 1990s, one in four college principals were female and by 2005, the last year for which accurate figures are available, the number of female principals still stood at about 100. This latest research suggests that the glass ceiling may not have quite disappeared, but the first cracks were certainly starting to show.

"There is a substantial interest in WLN's role in addressing gender-related factors in career progression. The research published in this report suggests that there is a clear need for the professional development and support services we provide. Combined with the guidance-related and experience-sharing strategies proposed for the network, they will be major contributory factors to progression.”

For more details, please contact Tina Fahm on 020 7297 8449 or simply email tinafahm@wlnfe.org.uk

Download the report