Making it to the Top

Women are under‐represented in senior positions within organisations, but more research is needed before a definitive statement can be made about the promotion process of senior executives. Data from questionnaires distributed among the senior executives of 379 Chicago‐based firms and 225 top‐level executives of British firms (all firms employing more than 500 people) asking respondents to indicate the importance of performance, membership, education, traits, and personal data criteria in individual promotion for men and women, ranked performance highest, irrespective of sex. Education was rated higher for women in the US, and higher for men in the UK. More attention needs to be given to networking and mentor‐protege relationships' contribution to the senior executive selection process.