Global gender gap means less than 5% of CEOs are women

Women are still failing to break into senior management or gain places on the board, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report.

In the 20 countries covered by the Corporate Gender Gap Report, an average of less than 5% of companies had women chief executives, rising to 13% in Finland and 12% in Norway, where recent legislation means 40% of a public company board must be female.

While there are more women than ever in the workforce, they still struggle to climb the career ladder.

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Respondents to the survey blamed this on “masculine or patriarchal corporate cultures” and a lack of role-models.

WEF founder and executive chairman Professor Klaus Schwab said: “Women account for one-half of the potential talent-base throughout the world and therefore, over time, a nation’s competitiveness depends significantly on whether and how it educates and utilises its female talent.”