How the UK ranks for women in the top jobs

Thursday, August 25, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Thought Leadership | Tags: business, statistics, research, infographic, women in business, data, women, IBR, board, gender, International Business Report, diversity, female, map

‘Improve your organisation by helping more women to get into top jobs’ – this was the message sent out to UK business by the Home Office last month. So how does the UK compare to its neighbours, emerging economies and the global average when it comes to employing women in senior jobs in the workplace? We review the global statistics and rankings.

In a joint letter to FTSE 350 companies, Home Secretary Theresa May and Business Secretary Vince Cable set out the business case for increasing representation of women in senior positions to at least 25% by 2015.

But figures from the 2011 Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) show that the UK is currently at the lower end of the world rankings for employing women in senior management positions with just 23% represented. (Across the FTSE 350, less than 9% of directorships were held by women.)

Even worse, the UK does not rank in the top 20 by country, lagging far behind countries such as Thailand, with 45% of senior roles taken by women, and trailing European neighbours such as Poland (31%) and Greece (30%). You can see the full data map on our Women in the Boardroom 2004-2011 infographic on our International & Emerging Markets blog.

There is some comfort for UK businesswomen, however. The UK does beat the global average of 20%, and figures over the past seven years are showing a slow but steady upward trend (increasing from 18% in 2004 – see graphic below).

With the Home Secretary’s latest call for action and a new code of conduct on gender balance launched, it is clear that the UK has reached a crunch point on tackling boardroom diversity.

But with the global average falling back to 2004 levels this year it will be interesting to see how the UK figures bear up in future IBR data.

For more information and data, visit the International Business Report website.

You might also find these posts useful:

* Women in the Boardroom 2004-2011 (infographic)
* Read our diary of a female CEO
* UK boards need more women directors – but how?