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Australian male CEOs with daughters or first-had experience of discrimination were more likely to champion gender diversity in their workplace, a study has found.
The study, undertaken by the University of Melbourne's Business School, surveyed more than 40 notable male CEOs.
Professor Isabel Metz, who led the study, said the research aimed to distinguish why some CEOs were proponents of women's representation in senior leadership while others were not.
"Exclusion or discrimination experienced firsthand or vicariously through their partners and having female offspring were the biggest motivators for CEOs to join advocacy groups for gender equity and be true champions of change publicly and inside their organizations," Metz said in a media release issued on Wednesday.
While Australia has made recent advances in gender equity, it still lags far behind other countries, said Metz.
"We have been trying to address this gender equity issue for a long time. There is still a significant pay gap, which remains stagnant, and underrepresentation of women at senior levels in this country," she said.
"Where Australia is lagging, North America and Europe are advancing, with strong, long-term commitment from CEOs at IBM, Sodexo and Deloitte, for example, to get women into leadership and drive gender equality."
Females working full-time in Australia make, on average, 17.3 percent, or the equivalent of 200 U.S. dollars, less per week than their male counterparts doing the same job, according to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
(APD)
