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Grant Thornton International has just published the results of its latest Women in Business research. The results of the study are encouraging, as they show how the percentage of businesses globally with at least one woman in senior management has risen to 87%, an increase of 12% in 2018.
From a global perspective, women currently hold 29% of senior leadership positions. The research highlights how, while this is only up 10% over the past 15 years, half this increase has been achieved in the last twelve months alone.
Francesca Lagerberg, global leader for tax services at Grant Thornton International says: “These figures are incredibly encouraging and a strong indication that gender parity is starting to be taken seriously by businesses. External factors such as increasing organisational transparency, gender pay gap reporting and highly visible public dialogue like the #MeToo movement appear to be making businesses wake up to the change that is needed.”
Gender parity, however, is still a critical issue to be addressed, as only 15% of businesses globally have chosen a woman as their CEO. To this regard, Francesca Lagerberg says: “Despite the strong business case in favour of gender diversity, change at the top has been slow until now. Policies that address equal opportunity in career development, bias in recruitment and flexible working can’t just be a nice to have. To achieve meaningful progress, they must be adhered to, enforced and regularly revisited to assess their effectiveness, and when that is combined with real commitment from senior leadership, you begin creating a truly inclusive culture.”
Grant Thornton Malta is actively promoting the role of women within the organization, with 51% of its workforce being composed by female employees, 22% of which hold senior positions.
