The Grant Thornton International Ltd’s (GTIL) "Women in Business 2024: Pathways to Parity" report highlights steady, though slow, progress in increasing the representation of women in senior management roles within mid-market companies. The report, reflecting on 20 years of global data, reveals that women held fewer than 20% of senior management positions in 2004. By 2023, that figure had risen to over a third, with an accelerated pace of progress noted since the onset of the pandemic. However, the last year saw just a 1.1% overall increase, indicating that progress remains sluggish and inconsistent across different regions and job titles.
The report also examines the impact of work environments on women's advancement. The increase in primarily office-based environments from 36% to 47% and the corresponding decrease in hybrid work environments have had mixed effects. Hybrid and flexible work arrangements have been shown to positively impact women's growth in leadership roles, while the disappearance of such models has led to challenges, particularly for women with caregiving responsibilities.
To address this slow pace, the report emphasizes the importance of adopting best practices and strategic pathways to accelerate gender parity in leadership. GTIL outlines three key strategies: defining and measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives, involving women leaders in these efforts, and implementing flexible work policies. These strategies, if followed, could significantly boost the number of women in senior management roles. Despite these strategies, challenges remain.
Notably, the percentage of female CEOs dropped from 28% to 19% in the last year, with significant declines in the United States. Departing female CEOs cited public pressure, caregiving responsibilities, and ingrained biases as major reasons for their exit. The report also underscores the need for creating psychologically safe environments where women can speak freely without negative repercussions.
On a positive note, the report identifies certain senior roles, such as CFOs, HR directors, and sales directors, where women have made notable gains over the past 12 years. Additionally, firms with a DE&I strategy in place have seen a higher percentage of women in senior management positions, especially when those strategies are led by women. Measurement of DE&I impact also correlates with increased female representation in leadership.
GTIL’s report also provides insights from the broader "Women in the Workplace 2023" report, conducted in partnership with LeanIn.Org. This study highlights the persistent underrepresentation of women, especially women of color, across the corporate pipeline. Although there has been an increase in the number of women in the C-suite, progress in the middle management levels remains slow.
The "broken rung" at the first step to management continues to be the most significant barrier to women’s advancement, particularly for women of color. The report concludes by debunking myths about women’s workplace experiences and emphasizes the importance of flexibility in fueling women’s career ambitions. It calls on organizations to adopt clear strategies, measure outcomes, and create supportive environments to ensure that progress toward gender parity continues to accelerate.