SCOTLAND'S first female First Minister will provide a much-needed role model to encourage women into top jobs, but there is still a long way to go on equal representation across all aspects of public life, campaigners have warned.

An investigation by the Sunday Herald has revealed the extent to which women are missing from senior roles in key areas ranging from politics and the justice system to education and charities.

Nicola Sturgeon's imminent appointment as First Minister means the three leaders of Scotland's main political parties will all be female, with Johann Lamont in charge of Labour and Ruth Davidson leading the Conservatives.

But currently there are just 45 female MSPs - representing 35% of the total - which is down from nearly 40% 10 years ago. And just over one-fifth of Scottish MPs - 13 out of 59 - are female.

Scotland also has the lowest proportion of female councillors in the UK at just 24.3%, compared to 30% in England, according to a study by Counting Women in Coalition, Sex And Power 2014: Who Runs Britain?.

Outside of the political sphere, women - who make up 49.3% of Scotland's working-age population - do not fare much better when it comes to being in senior roles. According to the report, only 12.5% of police chief constables are female.

Research by the Sunday Herald has also found that just nine out of Scotland's 34 judges - 26% - are women while there are four female chief executives of 14 NHS boards - accounting for 28% of the total.

Four out of Scotland's 15 universities - 26% - have female principals, while an analysis of 11 major charities based in Scotland show just two - 18% - are led by women.

Polly Trenow, senior policy and campaigns officer with the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for women's equality and rights, said it was an "exciting moment" for Scottish politics.

"For the first time there will be three female leaders of political parties in Scotland, a move that the Fawcett Society hopes will normalise the position of women in senior political roles," she said.

"More women at the top of politics will benefit the whole of Scotland by providing role models for young women, which will encourage them to enter politics - which has for too long been male dominated."

But she said action is needed to ensure women are properly represented at all levels of politics, such as increasing the numbers of women standing for election and making holding office easier for people with caring responsibilities.

"It is a matter of social justice and democratic legitimacy that women are equally represented round the decision-making table," she added.

Some argue that the introduction of legislative gender quotas in Scottish politics is required to instigate change. Dr Meryl Kenny, lecturer in government and politics at the University of Leicester, said evidence showed that when parties adopt measures to promote women's representation, the proportion of women in politics increases.

She said action taken by Scottish Labour and "informal measures" taken by the SNP had an impact on the number of female MSPs being elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 - which stood at 48.

"What has been clear since that point is that equal representation has very much slipped down the agenda," she said. "There is not a lot of evidence quotas have caught on since 1999 and really only one party - Scottish Labour - has consistently adopted quota measures across all elections, very clearly reflected in their numbers."

She added: "It is a great achievement in Scottish politics to have three female leaders in the major parties, but underneath that surface there is a lot of work still to be done."

Figures from the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the international organisation of parliaments, show Rwanda tops the world's league for women in parliament, with a figure of 63.8% representation of women in the lower house. It operates a system of setting aside seats just for women to contest.

The UK parliament is in 64th place on the list with a figure of 22.6%. Scotland is not included in the table but the figure of 35% of female MSPs means it is equivalent to Uganda, which is in 24th place.

Kenny, who has previously written about the "male, pale and stale" face of Scottish politics with Professor Fiona Mackay of Edinburgh University, said parties, governments and parliaments should have to report on their performance on representation of women and minorities.

She added: "The evidence in Scotland shows that gains are too small and they are taking too long.

"It is not clear that other parties are going to follow Labour's lead and adopt strong quotas. So I think the time has come for legal quotas in Scottish politics - there is a lot of international precedent."

A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: "As a party we are firmly committed to offering the same opportunities for all, regardless of their gender."

SNP national women's officer Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh said: "The SNP has a strong track record on promoting women's representation - including an innovative new women's academy designed to encourage more women to put themselves forward for elected office."

The referendum campaign has also triggered renewed calls for action to ensure equal representation, following a surge in women becoming engaged in movements such as Women for Independence.

A cross-party group launched last month is to make a submission to the Smith Commission, arguing that control of equality legislation should be moved from Westminster to Edinburgh to enable legal quotas for parliament, local government and public bodies to be put in place.

Labour MSP Kezia Dugdale, of the Women 50:50 campaign, said: "It's time our representative structures, be they in the Scottish Parliament or in council chambers, looked like the society they are meant to represent.

"Today, in our parliament we have three party leaders who are women, but this isn't because of parity between men and women candidates, this is despite it."

The issue, of course, is not just confined to politics or public life. In 2011, the UK Government set a voluntary goal for one-quarter of FTSE 100 directors to be female by next year.

The Scottish Government, meanwhile, wants to introduce mandatory quotas to ensure at least 40% of public boards are made up of women. A consultation report published earlier this year found women comprise only 21% of chairs, while female representation on regulated public boards was 36%.

However, HR body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) argued that the use of legislation on gender quotas will not bring about lasting change.

Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the CIPD, said: "The problem with quotas is that it doesn't necessarily address those underlying organisational and cultural issues that can be the real problem.

"We would advocate a real focus on identifying the cultural barriers that prevent women from progressing and going for public appointments at senior level.

"But if targets aren't met within, say, five years, there is always the possibility of bringing in (legal) quotas."

Alastair Pringle, Scotland director of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), said it was clear the issue of under- representation of women in power spans "every sector".

"We are aware of barriers that exist throughout from the early years, to what happens in schools, to young women's choices in accessing the workplace, right the way through to the opportunities to get on the board."

Pringle said research being undertaken by the EHRC included a study of FTSE 350 companies to examine recruitment and selection processes, and a separate investigation into pregnancy and maternity discrimination.