WOMEN police officers are being systematically failed by a promotion process that reinforces male dominance at the top and puts off female applicants, one of the service's most senior women has warned.

Chief Superintendent Angela Wilson said senior officers were acting subjectively by promoting those like themselves and called for more transparency in the selection process.

She said the perception that "you have to be 10 times as good as your male colleagues" to win promotion was putting qualified female candidates off running and suggested legislation was needed to fix the broken system.

The comments came as Mrs Wilson and representatives from other industries were quizzed on the issue of women and work by MSPs on the Equal Opportunities Committee.

Discussing women in the police service, Mrs Wilson said: "The one thing I would like to see change, and it might need to be legislative change, is around selection processes. I still have a concern about [them being] subjective although they are competency based.

"You usually have someone very senior in the organisation [and] they tend to select in their own likeness, though it's difficult to evidence this."

She called for the selection process for promotions to be much more transparent and have more independence before adding: "If you just let people promote 'people like you', you are not going to get the well- rounded team we should have."

The criticisms follow similar comments last month by Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick, Police Scotland's most senior woman, who bemoaned the lack of females in the top ranks.

She said the issue was a top priority for the country's new single body and suggested change was needed lower down the ladder to ensure enough women were being attracted into the force.

Speaking yesterday before the parliamentary committee, Mrs Wilson, who is chairwoman of the Scottish Women' Development Forum, said there are far more women qualified for promotion than actually apply.

"There are a number of things holding them back. Some of if it is around work life balance. Some of it is around the perception that you have to be 10 times as good as your male colleagues. And some of it is lack of role models," she said.

Police Scotland said it was committed to making promotions based on fairness regardless of gender.

Deputy Chief Constable Neil Richardson said: "We are in on-going dialogue with the Scottish Women's Development Forum about the issues surrounding the promotion process. We are aware of the challenges and that there is more than can be done."

He said the number of female officers in the service was at a record high, making up almost 30% of serving officers, almost double the rate of 10 years ago, and claimed there are a significant number of female officers in senior roles.

He added: "We do recognise this number is not reflected at senior levels nor is the overall number as high as we would want it to be. Reform gives us the opportunity to examine our staff profile and make appropriate adjustments. We are working hard to ensure our working practices create a work life balance for all officers, male and female."