Efforts to increase gender diversity in boardrooms have shown that companies with more women in leadership roles often outperform their less diverse counterparts. Yet, despite the established business case for diversity, women remain underrepresented on corporate boards globally. Recent research by the Deloitte Global Boardroom Program reveals that women hold only 23.3% of board seats worldwide in 2023. Although the representation of women has improved, the slow pace of progress raises concerns about whether companies and investors are doing enough to capitalize on the benefits of diverse boards.
The eighth edition of Deloitte's Women in the Boardroom: A Global Perspective highlights that while the number of women on boards has increased by 3.6% since 2022, gender parity remains a distant goal, with projections suggesting it may not be achieved until 2038. Government mandates, such as quota legislation in countries like France and Norway, have been instrumental in advancing gender diversity. However, these measures alone are not sufficient. The pipeline for women in top leadership roles, particularly board chair and CEO positions, remains thin, with women occupying just 8.4% of board chair roles and 6% of CEO positions globally.
One notable finding is the financial services industry's role as a leader in gender diversity, with women increasingly joining C-suites and boardrooms. In several markets, this industry ranks among the most gender-diverse, driven by a “multiplier effect” where each woman added to a C-suite position positively impacts the number of women in senior management roles. However, the current rate of progress is at risk of stagnation, signaling the need for sustained efforts to build a robust pipeline of future women leaders. As board agendas become more complex, there is a pressing need for boards to focus on gender parity, not only as a moral imperative but also as a business strategy to navigate the challenges of today's corporate landscape.