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             There are many obstacles that a woman has to face when working in what is essentially a male dominated environment. For some women, these obstacles pose as a reason for them not to be promoted to more senior positions. In a study carried out in the US by Lyness and Thompson (1997), women in managerial posts reported many more barriers that they had to cross than men in the same positions. Also, women in higher positions reported many more 'casualties' that lay in their path as compared to women in lower positions. In fact women (particularly in Wales) are better represented in finance, personnel and education departments than they are in operations, production and manufacturing departments. Female employees experienced many more career interruptions compared to males. Much of this can be explained by women having to take maternity leave. Another statistic which came out as a result of this study is that women have significantly less international mobility compared to men. Again, this can be explained by the stereotypical view that children need their mothers more than their fathers. Obstacles faced by women in the US are not likely to be different to those that women have to face in the UK, or anywhere else in the world for that matter.
             An important point that influences the employment of women is the "pull factor". Unfortunately, informal routes such as head hunting still play a significant role in the promotion of an employee. This can act as a major disadvantage to women if their area of work is particularly male dominated.
             Although women in managerial positions have been on the increase since the 1980's, the number is still significantly smaller than men in managerial roles. In Spring 2001, 2.6 million men and 1.1 million women made up for the managerial posts in this country. Women only comprised of 30%. The number of managers as a whole had risen by 20% over the last decade. The ratio...