WOMEN are being discriminated against in local authority management, a report published today shows. The report, commissioned by the Joint Committee on Women's Rights, shows the area remains almost exclusively male dominated. Of all the senior posts filled by the Local Appointments Commission, less than 3 per cent are held by women.
There are no women in the most senior grades of city and county managers, while at the next level there are only two female county secretaries and one finance officer.
A reform of the promotional system "which is clearly discriminatory" was called for by the Fianna Fail TD, Ms Mary Wallace, chairwoman of the committee. "The report shows that 88 per cent of these women aspire to achieving a higher management "grade that their present one," she said.
The report, by Ms Evelyn Mahon and Ms Lucy Dillon from the Department of Sociology in Trinity Collegeublin, shows that in 31 competitions for senior staff officer positions, no woman was successful. Some counties such as Cork, all Dublin councils and corporations, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim and Limerick Corporation, had good success rates for women.
By contrast Limerick County Council, Meath, Mayo, Carlow, Clare, Cork County Council, Donegal, Kerry, Kildare, Monaghan, Sligo, Tipperary South and Wicklow, had several competitions with female candidates but did not appoint any women.
The "serious" absence off women from interview panels was highlighted. It is still quite common to have all male interview boards and all male applicants. "This, of course, reproduces the idea of male power and authority, making it eventually difficult for women to be considered eligible candidates."
Although the marriage bar was lifted in 1973 the report speculates that senior older men on interview panels still see women as having very "traditional roles".
While some might explain the absence of women by their reluctance to apply, the report says that this is no longer the case in middle management.
The report makes a number of recommendations to ensure that women will be properly represented in local authority in the future.