Women in the boardroom 2004-2011 (infographic)

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Thought leadership | Tags: business, India, statistics, China, infographic, data, research, IBR, women in business, women, gender, board, diversity, Russia, female, International Business Report, map

The percentage of women in senior management roles makes for fascinating reading across different countries. But now you can also compare how countries rank over time using data from Grant Thornton’s International Business Reports since 2004 – just click on the image left to see the full infographic on Many Eyes, or read on for the summary.

The IBR data
The Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) surveyed* the percentage of women in senior management in 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2011 – and this data has been represented on the four different world maps which form the infographic. The darker areas show countries in which a higher percentage of women are reaching the boardroom; the lighter areas represent those where women are less likely to get the top jobs.

You can then further click on each country to find the percentage of women employed in a senior management role in that year, or scroll through the different years using the drop-down menu to compare performance over time. Click ‘all’ in the infographic toolbar to see all four maps simultaneously.

* The IBR surveys more than 11,000 medium to large privately held businesses across 39 economies each year to obtain its results on gender diversity in the boardroom.

Boardroom diversity
This year, there has been much discussion about how to increase the number of women in UK boardrooms. But the reality shows that, in 2011, the global average (only 20%) has fallen back to 2004 levels while the UK was still at the lower end of the global list with just 23% of women in senior managerial positions (up only 1% from the previous benchmark in 2009).

While no country scored more than 50% female representation, there are stars among the results. Below are the countries that employ a higher percentage of women in senior roles – and those where women will find it harder or more competitive to get to the top.

Women in the boardroom – the winners
The best countries in terms of higher numbers of senior businesswomen are consistently found to be from the East rather than the West. High scorers over the years include Russia, The Philippines and Thailand, followed by China and Malaysia. The highest scorer in 2011 was Thailand with an impressive 45% women in senior management, followed by newly-ranked Georgia with 40% female directorships.

Women in the boardroom – the losers
The lowest-ranked country continues to be Japan where only 8% of senior management positions are currently held by women. Also appearing at the lower end of the league table are India (9%), Germany (11%) and, surprisingly, the US (15%) – just six places from bottom.

For more information and data on women in business, visit the International Business Report website.

You might also find these posts useful:

* Key findings from the 2011 IBR on women in the boardroom
* Read our diary of a female CEO
* UK boards need more women directors – but how?