New BoardEx Report Shows Only 5% of CEOs are Female

Global Gender Balance
The study of 1,677 corporations around the globe reveals a staggering gender equity gap in the C-suite

Share This Post

Share on facebook
Share on linkedin
Share on twitter
Share on email

Altrata, a global leader in data-driven people intelligence, today released Global Gender Diversity 2022. Powered by BoardEx data, the third edition of this report explores the level and impact of female representation on the boards and within the C-suite of some of the largest companies around the world.

The report finds that just 5% of CEOs are female, while women account for just 28.2% of board seats among the corporations of the major indices across 20 of the world’s major economies. Female presence within the C-suite is even lower than on boards, at 19.2%. This reflects the continued underrepresentation of women in top corporate management positions.

“Progress on advancing gender diversity within organizations has been steady but underwhelming.”

Among the numerous key findings, Global Gender Diversity 2022 reveals:

  • Gender diversity at the top of a company appears to make a real difference: companies with female CEOs or chairs tend to have greater gender diversity on their boards and leadership teams than those with male CEOs or chairs
  • Nine of the top 24 companies by female board membership operate in financial services and four in media and entertainment
  • Female board members are younger on average than their male counterparts
  • On average, female board representation is greater in countries with mandated or voluntary quotas for women on boards
  • Among the Global 20’s major listed corporations, 81 had all-male boards in comparison to zero all-female boards as of June 2022
  • At 44%, France had the highest share of female board members in the first quarter of 2022, ahead of Italy and the UK with just under 40%
Across the Global 20, female representation on leading corporate boards is greater than it was a decade ago. But gender diversity in the boardroom varies widely between countries, and BoardEx data reveals clear leaders and laggards.

The report also includes insight into the companies making the most progress in achieving gender balance on their boards, including US biotech firm Organon, UK beverage company Diageo, and Dalata Hotel Group of Ireland.

Download Global Gender Diversity 2022 to view the complete findings.

About the author

BoardEx
+ posts

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter, Executive Insight

Receive a macro view of the global leadership landscape, trends, and implications for you and your business in your inbox every Thursday.

More To Explore

The Role of the CEO 2023

The Role of the CEO 2023 examines CEOs of public and private companies across 20 major global markets. This is the first report focusing purely on CEO’s from Altrata leveraging BoardEx, Boardroom Insiders and RelSci data. The study covers global public companies and dives deep into the public and private companies of the US and UK.

One in five S&P500 CEOs worked for P&G or GE early in their career

Altrata released The Role of the CEO 2023 which examines CEOs of public and private companies across 20 major global markets.  This new report is the latest in Altrata’s Executive Leadership Series, leveraging data from BoardEx, Boardroom Insiders and RelSci.

Amplify your network

How do you connect to the more than 3 million people and companies profiled in BoardEx?
Scroll to Top
Scroll to Top