Prof Alison Sheridan attended the 9^th biennial Gender, Work and Organization Conference at the University of Keele, from 29 June – 1 July.

Together with Associate Professor Linley Lord from Curtin University, Alison presented a paper co-authored with their colleague Professor Anne Ross-Smith (Macquarie University) entitled  ‘Shifting pathways and narratives: tracking women’s access to board roles’ .  The presentation reported on the team’s research pre and post the Australian Securities Commission (ASX) changes in 2011 to Corporate Governance guidelines, requiring share market listed companies to provide details in their annual reports of the number of women on their boards, in senior management roles and across the organization.

In the past five years, women’s representation on ASX 200 boards has increased significantly, and there certainly has been a greater focus by boards to recruit more women. Initial findings from the research suggest that while subtle changes have occurred to the key influences on women’s pathways to boards in the intervening years, having a particular skill set, the ‘right’ experience, knowing someone and fitting in remain critical to women’s access to corporate board roles.