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Women constitute the majority of the Australian public sector workforce, but their representation in senior roles is not proportional. Australian public services have gender targets to improve the representation of women in senior roles. Based on previous research, targets are expected to first increase female representation at the target's focal level, such as executive level. Then they should initiate a trickle-down effect (TDE), increasing female representation at the level immediately below the target's focal level, such as the executive feeder level. However, the TDE observed in a state public service decelerated after a gender target was imposed. We identified whether individual departments had a consistent or inconsistent TDE and conducted 13 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. Too many service-wide targets with low prioritisation of a gender target, as well as missing and ineffective practices, generated decoupling dynamics. Only departments with gender champions who had visible backing from the Chief Executive were able to keep the gender target coupled with practice to achieve its intended outcomes. Points for practitioners: Gender targets in Australian public services may not be achieving intended outcomes due to decoupling-a response to policies in which the policies are ignored and/or ineffective practices are implemented. Too many competing targets and limited accountability for achieving a gender target create a potential for decoupling by allowing individuals and groups to ignore or weakly adopt the policy. Integrated bundles of top-down (e.g. requiring at least two women on shortlists) and bottom-up practices (e.g. mentoring) can help avoid decoupling by ensuring women are appointed to senior roles and supported to progress through an organisation. Chief Executives are key to ensuring a gender target remains coupled with its implementation; Chief Executives must provide visible support to internal champions to make gender targets effective. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Despite the expected advantages of appointing women to corporate leadership roles, empirical evidence provides mixed support for the positive relationship between women's representation in the top management team (TMT) and subsequent firm performance. Considering the evidence that female TMT members are often paid less than their male colleagues, this study examines the implications of a gender pay disparity for the relationship between women's representation in the TMT and firm performance. Our analysis that draws on TMT pay data in public Australian firms demonstrates that gender pay disparities within TMTs negatively moderate the relationship between women's representation in the TMT and subsequent firm performance. Specifically, when female TMT members are paid less than their male colleagues, and this gender pay disparity is large, women's representation in the TMT is negatively associated with firm performance. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Female representation at senior organizational levels lags well behind male representation. We investigate whether there is a positive nonlinear relationship between female board representation and female executive representation: the trickle-down effect. We investigated 1,387 organizations listed on the Australian Securities Exchange between 2003 and 2012 and found the hypothesized nonlinear trickle-down effect operating between board and executive levels. The trickle-down effect was strongest after 1 year but still significant after 5 years. We investigated two potential moderators of the effect: organization size and gender diversity recommendations.There was no moderating effect of organization size, but contrary to expectations, gender diversity recommendations slowed the trickle-down effect. Our findings suggest that organizations can address the paucity of women at senior organizational levels by starting at the top. Specifically, organizations making multiple appointments of female board members should expect improvements in female executive representation. However, the signaling and advocacy opportunities afforded by female board appointments may be less potent in the context of external interventions. Our findings contribute to the ongoing policy debate about the value of regulatory interventions to increase female representation at senior organizational levels and highlight the need for research on the unintended consequences of these interventions across national contexts. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Organisational strategies to achieve gender diversity have tended to focus on 'bottom-up' approaches such as mentoring or leadership training. We investigate an alternative 'top-down' approach: the trickle-down effect. We integrate theories from the psychology and management literatures to hypothesise a positive relationship between female representation at two levels. Data from 20 departments in an Australian public service were collected for the period 2002-2012. Female executive representation in 1 year had a positive impact on female representation in the executive feeder group in the following year. The trickle-down effect was strongest in the first 2 years, but still significant after 5 years. We investigated two moderators, department size and gender diversity target. The effect was stronger in large departments. Surprisingly, the gender diversity target strengthened the trickle-down effect only when female executive representation was under 15%. Our finding of a trickle-down effect suggests public sector departments should consider appointing women to senior roles as a top-down strategy for increasing organisational gender diversity. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

In virtually all economies, executive positions are highly male dominated. This study examines the pay gap between male executives and female executives in large Australian firms from 2011 to 2014 to evaluate whether female executives are paid equitably compared with male executives. The mean pay comparison shows that female executives earn 80.7% of the total pay earned by male executives. A large part of the gender pay gap is explained by differences in positions held; female executives are particularly underrepresented in highly paid executive positions. After controlling for executive position and other relevant individual and firm characteristics, there remains a 15.1% gender gap in total pay. Our findings suggest that to achieve the goal of gender equity, both the proportion of women at executive level and the executive-level gender pay gap need to be monitored. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Across the globe, women continue to be underrepresented in academic institutions and face several inequities. To redress these, many universities are acting to increase female student participation...

This chapter explores the practical application of care organisation and considers the wider context of practitioners' need to minimise risk, be responsive to changes, influence service provision and act as leaders to enhance the quality of care provision in the community. The management of care, prioritisation and directing resources towards areas of greatest need are a professional obligation as well as being vital to the cost-effectiveness and high quality of care provided. The safe, cost-effective and efficient management of care in the community setting is one of the many challenges nurses face on a regular basis. Community nurses work in a dynamic and constantly changing care environment with potentially limitless demands. In addition to managing the risks associated with a continually shifting caseload, community nurses are responsible for safeguarding vulnerable groups, seeking health needs and actively identifying potential patients, employing a patient-centred, proactive, pre-emptive approach to service provision.

This article describes the authors’ experiences using a videotape collection of Holocaust testimonies in an advanced undergraduate writing course and argues that creatively designed multimedia proj...

Female representation at senior organizational levels continues to lag well behind male representation. There is evidence of a positive relationship between female representation at a senior level and female representation at the level immediately below; the trickle-down effect. The effect has been identified in the Australian public sector, with increases in female executive representation leading to increases in female representation in the executive feeder group. Organizations can initiate a trickle-down effect by appointing women to senior roles, but how do they support the effect and then accelerate it? We interviewed 13 senior managers from within an Australian public service. We use the women’s advancement literature, focusing on first- and second- generation bias, as a framework for investigating the policies and practices designed to overcome barriers to women’s advancement. We compare the policies, practices, accelerators and decelerators in the service to determine the mix that best supports an...

A handful of US studies found that female executives earn significantly less than their male counterparts. The nature of these prior studies is descriptive (i.e., estimating the size of the gender ...

Organizational strategies to achieve gender diversity have focussed on bottom-up approaches such as mentoring or leadership training. However, women’s representation at senior organizational levels...

Research has identified a significant gender pay gap in labor market in many international contexts. However, research on this topic at the executive level is limited outside the US and the UK. Thi...