The latest Gender Equity Insights report from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) and the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC) has some good news for employers. Women working full-time in management were promoted more often than men in 2024–25.
The same report shows women managers resigning at a higher rate than men. As the authors put it, “appointments and promotions add to the leadership pipeline; departures drain it.”
For employers working towards WGEA gender equality targets, the resignation number matters as much as the promotions. Here’s what the data shows, and where you could start strengthening your inclusive talent pipeline.
Promotion rates are moving in the right direction
Full-time women managers were promoted at 18.4% in 2024–25, compared with 14.1% of full-time men managers. Below management level, full-time women were also slightly ahead, at 8.7% compared with 7.9% for men.
The first step into management is closer to even. Just 0.9% of women non-managers moved into management for the first time, compared with 1.1% of men. In some industries the gap is wider, for example construction, the first-entry rate was 1.7% for women and 2.5% for men.
The promotion data is a strong starting point, however it’s one half of the picture. To assess whether women are building longer careers in leadership positions, you also need to assess retention.
Where the pipeline loses women
Women managers resigned at 13.8% in 2024–25, compared with 12% of managers who are men. Below management level, the rates were almost identical, at 14.4% for women and 14.3% for men. The gap opens up once women shift from individual contributor to formal manager.
It’s also present when employees take parental leave, with resignation during paid parental leave at 5.9% for women and 3.2% for men.
Whilst this report doesn’t explore all root causes of the issue, it’s powerful at informing us where to look and explore further. If women are reaching management level positions and then leaving at a higher rate compared to men, the questions to ask are about what happens after the promotion: workload, flexibility, support through life changes, and whether the role has been designed for the person in it.
Flexibility that stops at the management door
Most employers offer flexibility, and of the organisations reporting to WGEA, 90.8% offer flexible start and finish times, 86.3% offer part-time work, and 78.3% offer hybrid working.
Far fewer intentionally built it into senior or management roles. Only 13.2% design management roles to be done part-time, and 11% build job sharing into job design.
That has a direct effect on progression, especially for women. Part-time non-managers were promoted at 3.7% (women) and 4% (men), less than half the full-time rates. The report’s authors found the full-time and part-time divide clearer than the gender divide. Because 45% of women work part-time after having their first child, that divide falls hardest on women.
This quantitative research reflects the themes of real women’s lives, captured in our What Women Want Report 2026, where 66% of women asked employers for flexible or part-time career pathways, and flexible work was one of the most impactful benefits an organisation could offer.
Organisations with a flexibility strategy also had higher representation of women at every management level.
Four checks for your leadership pipeline
The employers we work with who make steady progress on balancing gender representation often approach it as a pipeline, not a hiring problem. Last year, 81% of WORK180 Endorsed Employers maintained or increased the number of women in management. Our advice, drawing on the report’s recommendations, is to start with these four checks.
1. Track resignations next to promotions. Report hiring, promotions, and resignations by gender, level, and employment status to your board each year.
2. Ask earlier than the exit interview. Check in with newly promoted managers in their first 6 months to a year, and with employees before and after parental leave. These conversations give you time to better understand current state, challenges, and opportunities to provide meaningful support.
3. Review every management vacancy for part-time or job-share design before you advertise. Discuss what is possible for each role – and if we are assuming a role can be full time only, because ‘it’s what we’ve always done’. Consider what practical flexibility can look like day in, day out, in the role.
4. Measure what your flexibility policy does. While 70.6% of organisations have a formal flexibility policy, only 27% measure or evaluate its impact. Look at who is using the policy, and how it is being used (consistently) across the organisation.
If you’re short on time, you don’t need to do all four at once. The first check gives you the baseline, and any step can be progress towards building a more inclusive talent pipeline.
Keep the women you’ve promoted
Our free guide, Five ways to develop diversity (without relying on recruitment), covers coaching, mentoring, sponsorship, and other career development approaches that help women progress and stay. Download the guide.
You can also check out the full Gender Equity Insights 2026 report on the BCEC website.
