DESPITE the progress made on gender diversity in the workplace, women are still a minority in top management and at board level globally.

According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) March report, The leaking pipeline: Where are our female leaders?, women are lost from the pipeline (workplace) through voluntary termination at a rate two or three times faster than men once they have attained the experienced, mid-career, manager/senior manager level of their careers.

'The subsequent lack of female role models at the senior levels exacerbates the perception among women that advancement opportunities are limited.

'Evidence suggests that this leads to further attrition and a shrinking pool from which to find these leaders and role models,' it said.

And what action do corporations need to take to address this?

PwC suggests communicating with and ensuring that current leaders are aware of the changing needs and characteristics of future leaders, particularly women, in order to provide an environment where they can connect and build their career.

'Assist leaders to understand and to learn how to recognise and support the unique capabilities women bring to leadership, breaking the cultural and gender myths.

'This will have a positive impact on attraction, retention and the ability to engage people,' it said.

Looking at the statistics on the homefront, it appears that corporate Malaysia generally still favours men over women for top positions.

A survey on 50 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia conducted by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry in 2007 showed that the number of women on boards of directors in Malaysia had gone down by half since 2005, although there has been an encouraging increase of women in senior management positions (see chart).

In the public sector, the numbers are even more dismal with women comprising less than half of senior civil servant positions.

Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd group chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Bridget Lai said the disparity should be addressed given the shortage of talents in the market.

'I am optimistic that the situation will continue to improve as the number of women in university outweighs the men so companies will have no choice but to accept that women will become an equally important resource for human capital.

'But for now, the top positions are still quite clearly male-dominated,' she told StarBiz.

Lai said prejudice against women in the corporate boardroom or in top positions would continue to be a challenge in many companies due to the set views on how management skills were assessed.

She believes opportunities for women to step up and become assets in their organisations would improve as markets open up and demographic changes intensify the need to broaden and change styles and approaches.

Nevertheless, the country has its share of successful women leaders, namely Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz and Datuk Zarinah Anwar who heads the Securities Commission.

HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd deputy chairman and CEO Irene Dorner noted that although the bank does not have enough women at senior levels, its junior executive pipeline is 50% female.

'It is not only corporate responsibility but rather good business sense to hire and promote more women to expand the employer's customer base. Women will also provide differences in experience, perspectives and contacts.

'Why invest in training women only to have them leave because of a lack of opportunity?' she said.

Hong Leong Bank Bhd group managing director and CEO Yvonne Chia stressed that the top job must be entrusted to the best person.

'There is a strong sense of achievement and satisfaction to be had when one is in a job not because 'we need a certain number of women in leadership',' she said.

Having experienced challenging times in her career led Microsoft Malaysia managing director Yasmin Mahmood to conclude that 'There are windows in the glass ceiling. And one does not have to be shattered in pieces to break through.

'As an act of corporate responsibility, companies should provide women with support that would enable them to achieve their career aspirations and realise their potential,' she said.

However, Yasmin believes that a more educated and mature society has allowed many to look beyond the gender issue.

Dorner concurs.

'At HSBC, we believe that diversity is not only about gender, race, ability or age. It is also about open-mindedness, embracing non-conformity and creating balanced teams,' she said.

The bank has care or 'nursing' rooms to support its female staff locally.

It also organises HSBC Malaysia's Women's Executive Luncheons where women professionals from various industry are invited to share their experiences and best practices on successful career management with HSBC women executives, among others.

Meanwhile, Lai said CEOs and senior management could support their female employees by acknowledging the fundamental difference between women and men; allowing flexibility for women (and men) who need it; providing training that takes advantage of women's leadership potential; and eliminating the corrosive atmosphere and the barriers that exist for women in the workplace.

'I also cannot emphasise more on the need for a professional women's network for women in the organisation to gain support,' she said.