Women Are Still Struggling to Make It Into the C-Suite in the UK

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(Bloomberg) — Women are increasingly being hired for roles at companies that tend to lead to the CEO position, but they are still largely absent from the top rungs of British companies.

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Women now make up 23% of chief financial officers, chief operating officers or heads of departments or are already CEOs across the FTSE 100, according to new research by 25×25, an organization formed to help boost the level of female talent at the top of the world. British companies. That’s up from 16% in 2021, the group said.

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The organization found this increase to be significant, because 90% of CEOs of the country’s largest companies held one of these roles. However, only two of the 17 FTSE 100 CEOs appointed between June 2023 and June 2024 are women.

The research shows just how difficult a battle female executives face. Even today, only nine of the FTSE 100 CEOs are women, down from the index’s peak of 11 earlier this year.

Learn more: Bloomberg hosts inaugural Women, Money and Power event

“The paths to CEO are incredibly narrow,” said Tara Semlin-Jones, a former investment banker who now leads 25×25. “The vast majority have developed their skills and experience in narrow silos.”

Semlyn Jones – whose organization includes public and private companies from across sectors, including NatWest Group Plc, BP Plc, Unilever Plc and BAE Systems Plc – has encouraged companies to take a more flexible approach to candidates’ experience, which she believes will allow more women to . Reaching the top.

The UK is certainly not alone. Separate research by Bloomberg Intelligence found that only 6% of CEOs globally are women, ranging from 3% in emerging markets to 8% in the US and Europe.

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“Women have made little progress in executive positions,” said Adeline Diab, research director and chief environmental, social and corporate strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence. “Three out of four companies still do not have women in C-Suite positions.”

Women hold 35% of leadership positions, according to this year’s FTSE Women Leaders review of the top 350 companies across the UK – although this figure “hides the truth”, said Pavetta Cooper, UK president of the 30% Club, which campaigns More women on boards. She said there aren’t enough of these women in charge of large parts of the business, which would put them on the path to CEO.

Part of the problem is that some stakeholders — such as board members and headhunters — act as an “unintended barrier” to more women becoming CEO, and instead push boards to appoint people similar to the current CEO who holds the position. Position, Semlin says. – Jones said.

“I think UK boards are becoming increasingly risk averse,” Chris O’Shea, chief executive of £6.6bn energy company Centrica, said in the research. “And some of that is driven by some of the governance rules that we have.”

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What Bloomberg Intelligence Agency says:

Women have made little progress into executive positions, but momentum may be building, with recent appointments including CEOs at S&P and HKEX and CFOs at HSBC and Ford. Although there are qualified candidates, more efforts are needed to help them break the glass ceiling.

– Adeline Diab, Bloomberg Intelligence.

Recruiters also play a big role in deciding who is chosen to lead companies in the UK, because half of FTSE 100 companies choose external candidates for the top job, compared to a fifth of large companies in the US.

This puts women at a direct disadvantage, according to 25×25 research, because headhunting fees tend to be tied to the next CEO’s salary. The research found that this could inadvertently motivate them to prioritize men, who typically earn higher salaries.

The UK’s tendency to appoint more CEOs externally is particularly problematic for female candidates, and suggests that boards do not trust their own internal succession planning, 25×25 found.

Efforts to improve CEO and board diversity globally may soon face headwinds, as incoming US President Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House in January. He has vowed to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as part of his promise to end “wokeism” in America.

However, companies led by boards with a greater female presence had 2% to 5% higher returns in developed markets, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Research shows that statistics like these can help keep these diversity initiatives top of mind for companies.

“Financial performance linked to diversity reveals the benefits and may represent a powerful counterargument to any anti-woke rhetoric,” Diab said.

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