A women's world? 71% of profession made up of females

HR, a department held responsible for diversity, is failing to be an inclusive business area – with females accounting for roughly 71% of the profession.

Looking at our own data, 78% of females work as a Director, Manager or other HR professional in the HR operation/leadership function, 73% make up the resourcing sector, 68% account for Learning & Development positions and 64% of Compensation & Benefits roles are held by women.

Anne Allen, Director of People Experience at Xero, says she is still baffled by the imbalance: “What makes it so interesting is that we’re so underrepresented in senior roles within other departments. However, the most common theory is that it’s a job associated with listening qualities, compassion, patience and an understanding of empathy – traits which some men may feel uncomfortable to stand by as their redeeming qualities.”

In 1997, the proportion of women in HR was lower than today’s records, they made up 63.8%, but, since then, there has been a steady increase.