WASHINGTON, March 7: Women are still greatly underrepresented in corporate America and at the current rate of change would need decades to reach parity with men in top companies, according to a new survey.

Catalyst, a New York-based research organisation that tracks women’s career advancement opportunities, found that although the number of women in top-paying jobs rose to 6.7 per cent in 2006 from 6.4 per cent the previous year, women are still twice as likely to hold staff positions and the number of companies with three or more women corporate officers has decreased.

“At the current rate of change, it could take women 47 years to reach parity with men as corporate officers of Fortune 500 companies,” the study said.—AFP