Female participation in top management positions within the Maltese public service 2002-2004 : an empirical study

Abstract

Being a woman and a public service employee, I was always concerned and aware of the participation and involvement of women within the Public Service. Unfortunately, when looking at top management positions one may notice that there is a very low percentage of women occupying such positions. A tangible example is that, to date, all Permanent Secretaries are men. This is particularly striking, considering the fact that we are living in a society of equal opportunities. Consequently I carried out a research in order to analyse the participation of women in higher grades. The research focused on the females occupying top management positions in General Service Grades of the Maltese Public Service. Throughout this study I found out that there are two major issues that are hindering women's advancement, namely family responsibilities and male networks. In fact following this study I recommend that a further study that focuses on what the males in Top Management Positions think about female participation or lack of it is commissioned.