Fewer than one in 10 Irish chief executives is female, according to a survey of 6,000 managers and professionals in the private sector carried out by the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation (IBEC). Women account for just 8 per cent of Irish chief executives, 21 per cent of senior managers and 30 per cent of middle managers, according to the IBEC report Women In Management In Irish Business.

The proportion of women to men was less unbalanced at junior management and professional levels, where 45 per cent of employees were female. Personnel was the only function where there was a higher proportion of women to men at head of function/senior management level. At middle management level, women predominate in only two areas - personnel and customer services.

The survey, carried out in 2001, found that female participation in the labour force had risen to 50.1 per cent from 28 per cent in 1971. This compares to a 73.3 per cent participation rate among men. Female participation was highest in the 25-34 age group (76.8 per cent) followed by the 20-24 age group (76 per cent).

It found that four out of 10 heads of function/senior managers in services sector companies were female compared with two out of 10 in manufacturing, sales and distribution. The bigger the size of the company, the less likely it was to have female heads of function/senior managers, according to the survey.

There is growing recognition that "the glass ceiling" - structural, institutional and attitudinal factors acting as barriers to women achieving senior management positions - is bad for business, according to IBEC director of social policy Ms Jackie Harrison.

"The need to compete in changing national and international business environments is driving business to address glass ceiling issues because they exclude able and top quality people from leadership positions. There are bottom-line benefits for employers in addressing this issue."

Some employers are driven to address the issue by the need to hold on to talented people while others want to be seen by women as "an employer of choice" in a tight labour market where the female participation rate has increased, she explained.

Among the examples of the glass ceiling cited in the report are:

•Unclear selection criteria for promotion, which allows considerable scope for discretion by senior management. This discretion is likely to be influenced by their personal views and attitudes towards women;

•Occupational segregation" whereby the job selection process can favour men over women;

•Lack of affordable, good quality and consistent childcare can act as a barrier to female participation at senior management level where women have the main responsibility for domestic issues;

•The lack of female role models;

•Women are said to be more job-focused than career-focused and are often not aware of the strategic importance of the decisions they make around their careers;

•Women's tendency to move into "support" or "non-strategic" functions such as human relations rather than into the line management positions that lead to more senior positions;

•A reluctance to hire women to head departments staffed by men.

The report is the first time IBEC has isolated specific data on women in management. IBEC said it had identified the challenges faced by Irish companies in achieving a more balanced representation in decision-making positions and the opportunity to draw on the resources, skills and expertise of women in positions of leadership.

It said it had developed a number of practical initiatives to address the challenges identified, including a leadership initiative aimed at developing the skills and abilities of women.