When Kirsten O'Doherty was studying to be a pharmacist at university, she already knew she wanted to be the first female general manager of a pharmaceutical company.

Key points: An equal number of male and female CEOs is expected by 2100

An equal number of male and female CEOs is expected by 2100 Male managers currently earn on average $162,000 more than their female counterparts

Male managers currently earn on average $162,000 more than their female counterparts Businesses can get more women with family-friendly work, female board members and reporting requirements, experts say

Today, that's exactly what she does as Australia New Zealand general manager for pharmaceutical giant AbbVie, which makes some of the top-selling medications in the world.

"I certainly was ambitious early and I definitely wanted more," she said.

Ms O'Doherty started out as a hospital pharmacist and worked her way to the top of her industry.

While she wasn't the first female general manager in her sector, she wasn't far behind.

But women like Kirsten are still in the minority, with a five-year special investigation finding it will be 80 years before there's an equal number of male and female chief executives in Australia.

Ms O'Doherty says she has always been a "strong advocate" for herself at work. ( ABC News: Brendan Esposito )

The research from Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency also found the highest-paid men in all management roles in Australia were being paid, on average, at least $162,000 more than their female counterparts.

The data, compiled and analysed by the Curtin Economics Centre, found the top 10 per cent of best-paid males in leadership roles took home a total salary of $598,745, compared to $436,369 for the best-paid women.

Significant pay gap persists

Women were found to be better represented among lower levels of management, but even then, they took home $31,000 less than their male colleagues.

Ms O'Doherty said she'd tried to counter the pay gap during her career by always taking a keen interest in industry benchmarks and asking her employers to keep pace.

"I've always been a very strong advocate for myself," she said.

Overall, women make up almost half of the Australian labour market, but still only hold 37.5 per cent of full-time management positions.

The research was based on data from more than 4,500 employers sent to the Federal Government — about 40 per cent of the workforce.

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It found that women in the health care sector were noticeably under-represented among top-tier managers compared to the proportion of female employees, while the rental hiring and real estate industry had the widest pay gap when it came to pay.

The mining, manufacturing and utilities sectors showed strong growth in their share of female managers.

Libby Lyons says it makes sense for businesses to want women in management roles. ( ABC News: Supplied )

Workplace Gender Equality Agency director Libby Lyons said the figures on chief executive numbers didn't surprise her and she'd also found many female chief executives had to work harder to prove themselves.

"There's no complaints about that — we just get in and we do what we've got to do, but I do think that women probably, anecdotally, have had to do it a bit tougher than the blokes," she said.

She encouraged female managers who suspected they earned less than male colleagues to talk to their employer.

"I think you know you owe it to yourself to have that chat with your boss and talk about your work and talk about your value," she said.

But wait, there is some good news

The report did find there were plenty of measures businesses — both big and small — could take to keep their female staff.

Projected year when there will be an equal number of men and women in senior roles Chief executive officer: 2100

Chief executive officer: 2100 Key management personnel: 2039

Key management personnel: 2039 Executives: 2047

Executives: 2047 Senior managers: 2037

Senior managers: 2037 Other managers: 2031

Other managers: 2031 All managers: 2042





Employers that funded at least 13 weeks of paid parental leave, above the Government's minimum leave, halved the rate of departure of female managers.

And companies that offered flexible work arrangements and reported to boards on their gender policies increased their share of part-time female managers by nearly 14 per cent.

Onsite childcare increased the retention of female managers during paid parental leave by almost one-fifth.

Kirsten O'Doherty said maternity leave was the main gender issue she'd encountered during her rise to the top.

"At the time, there was no guarantee of return to the same level of role," she said.

"I think about five weeks after having my first daughter I was really working part-time unpaid at home in order to keep up.

"I just thought I had no choice other than to take very short maternity leave."

She said that was why, as leader of AbbVie, she took a proactive role in fostering a flexible workplace.

"You can have the policies in place, but unless everybody in the organisation knows that and they live and breathe it everyday, you get pockets where things aren't being implemented as they should," Ms O'Doherty said.

Benefits of female leadership unparalleled

The figures reflect this, showing a female chief executive was also beneficial to the retention of women in the workplace.

Those with a woman in the top job increase their share of female full-time managers by 8.6 per cent on average.

Boards can also play a role: those with an equal share of men and women grow the proportion of full-time female managers by 7.3 per cent.

Ms Lyons said it made sense for businesses and workers to want more women in management roles.

"(The report) gives us the evidence that female managers are twice as likely to return to work if their employer provides 13-plus weeks of paid parental leave," she said.

"If they leave, employers are going to have to pay to recruit and retrain another employee so I think it's about taking the longer-term view.