SCOTLAND'S most talented women face a "concrete ceiling" in the workplace that is continuing to prevent many landing the most powerful jobs in society, according to a report.
The investigation reveals the proportion of women in some of the most powerful positions in Scottish society has declined or stagnated in the past five years.
Female representation in the Scottish Parliament has declined from 39.5 per cent in 2003
to 34.1 per cent this year, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland survey.
Meanwhile, the proportion of women leaders of local authorities has remained static at 18.8 per cent over the past five years.
Morag Alexander, head of the commission in Scotland, said inflexible work practices were preventing women from making their full contribution.
She said: "Young women's aspirations are giving way to frustration. They are excelling at school – in many cases outperforming boys. And they are keen to balance a family with a rewarding career.
"But workplaces forged in an era of stay-at-home mums and breadwinner dads are putting the break on their careers – with an avoidable loss of talent.
"We always speak of a glass ceiling. In some cases it appears to be made of concrete."
The commission's report, Sex and Power says achieving equal representation in Scotland's most influential public roles would require 85 more women secondary headteachers, 21 more women MPs, 13 women judges and 11 women senior police officers.
In the past year, the number of women holding top posts has fallen in four of its 14 job categories. In another six categories the number of women remains unchanged since the commission's 2007 survey. Women's representation has increased in just four areas.
The equality gap is particularly marked for women from minority ethnic backgrounds, the report says.
It highlights that, despite the slow progress towards equality in the boardroom, girls are continuing to gain better school qualifications than boys, while 57 per cent of all university students are women.
The commission will publish a report next year with recommendations on how to increase equality, with more flexible working practices likely to top the list.
A commission spokesman added: "If we are to create an ambitious, fair and confident Scotland, we cannot go on marginalising or rejecting talented people."
FACT BOXTHE UK parliament is 70th in an international gender equality league table, behind Iraq, Afghanistan and China.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission report found that only 19.7 per cent of British MPs are female.
The percentage of women MPs in Scotland is even lower – 13.6 per cent.
This compares with 25.5 per cent in Iraq, 21.3 per cent in China and 27.7 per cent in Afghanistan.
Rwanda is top of the gender equality league, with 48.8 per cent of parliament members being female.
Second is Sweden, where 47 per cent of its politicians are women.
The United States languishes behind the UK in 83rd place. Only one in six of its politicians (16.8 per cent) is female. Canada, meanwhile, is 59th on the list with 21.3 per cent representation.
LOSING THE POWER GAME
Sex and Power 2008 Scotland Index:
Women in selected 'top jobs' over the last five years