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Women make up less than a tenth of chief executives at listed companies in the UK, which is lagging behind other major global economies. According to executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, which analysed the profiles of 1,095 CEOs at the largest publicly listed companies in 24 markets worldwide, gender diversity in the top leadership position is still woefully inadequate. At its snapshot date on 5 July 2021, just 8% of CEOs at UK listed companies were female – although this proportion is higher than the 5% recorded a year earlier. Ireland was leading the way for gender diversity at CEO level, with 14% CEOs identified as female. It was followed by the United States (12%), Singapore (11%), and Belgium and Sweden (both at 10%). The UK had the same proportion of female CEOs in listed companies as South Africa, the Netherlands, Demark and Finland, according to the Route to the top report. Companies in Italy, Mexico and Canada were the worst for gender diversity – none of these countries had a female CEO at a listed company. “As the global corporate environment continues to evolve to a greater stakeholder view, a change is also happening for the CEO,” said Bonnie Gwin, vice chairman and co-managing partner of the global CEO and Board of Directors Practice at Heidrick & Struggles. “CEOs are quickly becoming the standard-bearer for a wide-range of issues from cybersecurity, sustainability, social justice and diversi