The "glass ceiling" keeping women out of leadership positions appears to be made of steel, according to a new survey released to coincide with International Women's Day.

The survey of 290 organizations in Canada found that the overwhelming majority — 82 per cent — had no clear strategy for encouraging women to enter leadership positions.

Mentors for women leaders are lacking because executives are predominantly men.

“It is very surprising to find the glass ceiling so strong in a country like Canada which is recognized as an open culture that attracts people coming in from all countries,” said Mercer Human Capital spokeswoman France Despatie.

The survey, conducted in December 2010, includes responses from 290 public and private-sector organizations, including those in the health-care, financial and technology fields.

Surveys also were done in the U.S., Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

In terms of encouraging women leaders, Canada lagged behind both the U.S. and the rest of the world.

In the U.S., 70 per cent of companies surveyed lacked strategies for promoting women, compared to 71 per cent internationally.

Despatie noted that the Canadian survey also showed that 43 per cent of companies didn’t feel they had a problem with promoting women to top jobs.

To women, however, the lack of support strategies was clear. More than half (53 per cent) of all Canadian women and about 38 per cent of American women thought their organization provided “no or minimal support” for their promotion.

“Frankly, we were surprised, given the fact that the Canadian culture values diversity in society, workforce and leadership,” said Lynn Stoudt of Mercer’s “Talent Management” department in Ottawa.

The focus on diversity programs in Canada, however, has not translated into leadership opportunities for women. Employers cited programs they’d established to encourage work-life balance, coaches, networking and mentoring by managers.

But although those programs helped all employees, including men, they didn’t seem to specially help women to enter leadership roles.

Both Despatie and Stoudt noted that, in fact, Canadian companies showed less support (60 per cent) for flexible work arrangements, compared to 69 per cent of U.S. and Asia Pacific companies which helped women to balance home life and career.

“The numbers suggest the glass ceiling has still not been smashed,” said Stoudt.

In 1857, when International Women’s Day was first declared, livable working conditions was the issue for female garment workers who staged a demonstration.

That day, March 8, is now celebrated by more than 50 countries around the world as a holiday or a special day to commemorate women workers.

On March 8, 2011, it appears women still have a long way to go to be established in leadership positions in the working world.