Progress on women in senior leadership stalling

A pandemic-prompted change in working practices has brought about only slight progress for women in senior leadership, according to Grant Thornton’s 2023 International Business Report (IBR) research into women in business in the global mid-market. Unless businesses develop cultures that empower people through flexible ways of working and take additional steps to support women into senior leadership positions, only 34% of senior leadership positions in mid-market businesses globally will be held by women in 2025.

While progress on the overall number of women in senior leadership continues, Grant Thornton’s latest research reveals it has been slow, increasing only half a percentage point to 32.4% in the past year, and only 13% since the research was first undertaken in 2003.