This succinct report focuses on women's representation on boards of publicly-listed companies in the United States. Statistics are presented from 2006 and 2012, demonstrating a small increase over this period to 14 percent representation onS&P1500 boards, and 17 percent on S&P500 boards.Additional data are supplied for: the number of women members on boards, by year and by company size; the progress of companies which in 2006 had no women members; the percentage of companies which have reached the "tipping point", here defined as one third of members being female; the professional backgrounds of the new women directors recruited in 2011-2012, and their qualifications for directorship as cited by the recruiting companies; and the percentage of women in specific board and committee roles.

This report, prepared by a major professional services firm, presents data on the current status of women's representation in senior executive roles within the public sectors of the G20 nations. Ranked figures are also provided for women's representation in parliamentary and Ministerial-level positions, and for total percentage of women's representation across the nation's entire public sector workforce and private sector board positions.The report estimates that 860 million women world-wide currently lack the education or opportunity to participate in the global economy. Specific issues faced by women in a variety of nations are discussed in brief, and interviews with senior female leaders in these countries provide insight on the political and social obstacles which must be overcome. The future effects of austerity are considered: an estimated 710,000 UK public sector jobs will be lost by 2017, and in countries such as Spain, Greece and Portugal austerity has primarily affected areas which have been traditionally female-dominated, such as education, health and social services.Actions are suggested for governments to improve their female representation, ranging from legislation, to changes of culture, role modelling and leadership, and specific advice is offered for women entering the sector and wishing to progress.

Talent personnel at professional services firm Deloitte here describe the new Mass Career Customisation (MCC) model the company has developed for talent management. The authors identify six trends which are changing the workforce, and which will have increasing impact in the future; these include a shrinking labour pool, a higher number of female workers, the expectations of Gen X and Gen Y employees, and the impact of technology. While flexible working arrangements have helped such issues in the past, these are argued to be one-off solutions typically negotiated at "points of crisis", which are not integrated with talent management and career progression.The MCC model builds on the concept of Mass Product Customisation, offering employees options based on the dimensions of pace, workload, location or schedule, and role. Employees choose their preferred position on the continua with the understanding that these may be re-evaluated at a later point. This model replaces the metaphor of a "corporate ladder" with that of a "corporate lattice", acknowledging that workers may voluntarily choose to move sideways or even downwards at various points in their careers.Examples are provided of sample profiles and the benefits of the model are discussed, including increased productivity and loyalty. The authors provide a thorough discussion of their experiences rolling out the system, and list several key lessons learnt for successful implementation. 

This brief and practical article from a human resources journal argues that women leave organisations long before hitting the "glass ceiling" largely because increasing work demands in their lives come into conflict with inflexible workplace policies.From ongoing consultation with professional women, the author has assembled a list of five of the most important factors contributing to women staying in their roles. These are: flexibility, including provision of flexible working hours, telecommuting, part-time options and the ability to temporarily scale back one's career; caregiving support, such as paid parental leave and options for re-entry; maintaining contact with women who have left, such as through alumni networks or options for project work; ensuring the recruitment function welcomes women's career re-entry; and fostering a supportive organisational culture where flexible work is not stigmatised and efforts are made to measure success towards diversity targets. The article includes a brief description of Deloitte's "mass career customisation" career planning model.