Canadian Women in Communications (CWC) is holding a presentation on women in business in response to a report that shows little growth in the number of women in senior positions across Canada.

The presentation, called “Where are All the Women? A Presentation on Women in Leadership by Stephanie MacKendrick,” will take place on Feb. 2 at MTS place, 333 Main Street.

Stephanie MacKendrick, president of CWC, said she thinks there are still barriers to female participation and advancement in technology-related areas, and in both CEO and board-level positions.

MacKendrick said she thinks people recognize that something needs to be done and are willing to do it but are stuck at the “how do we make it happen stage.

“It’s great that people are [on board] saying ‘we’ve got to do something’ but if they can’t actualize that sentiment then we’re really no further ahead.”

MacKendrick said the topic could be considered controversial because a lot of people “take issue” with the idea that gender bias is alive and well.

MacKendrick said she has been aware of certain attitudes that she has had to work around in her own career.

She said there is a culture bias for men and women where “leadership is still strongly associated with men.”

MacKendrick said there is also a double standard for women in terms of behaviour and style.

“Women need to be assertive. If they’re too assertive they’re pushy, but if they’re not assertive enough then they’re not strong enough to lead,” she explained.

The presentation is based on a Conference Board of Canada report released at the end of August.

According to the report, between 1987 and 2009 the proportion of women in senior management positions has changed little. Men remain more than twice as likely to hold those positions.

The report shows 48 per cent of the workforce in 2009 was made up of women and 0.32 per cent of them were in senior management positions, compared to 0.64 per cent of men.

Terri St Louis, the Chair of the regional board for CWC in Manitoba, said when the report was released CWC decided to focus their entire season on this topic.

“We invited Stephanie MacKendrick to speak on this topic [ . . . ] because she is Canada’s biggest cheerleader for women as leaders,” said St Louis.

Michael Benarroch, dean of Asper School of Business at the U of M, said he thinks university students should be aware of this topic.

“If the data is showing some sort of systematic discrimination then we would want to educate our students so that when they go out there they won’t continue that process,” Benarroch said.

Benarroch said it has been “noted at various times that there may not be a lot of women in leadership positions.

“Women now make up a majority of university students so we know that as we go forward in time the group of people that we choose from for leadership positions, the majority of those will become women,” Benarroch said.

Sue Bruning, a professor in the Asper School of Business, said one area of her research was on expatriates and how women are selected less than men to go on assignments outside of the country, despite data showing women perform as well as men on such assignments.

Bruning said a number of companies require international experience for senior positions.

“There is a ‘catch-22,’ women are not selected as often for assignments, but the assignment is necessary for advancement into senior positions.”