Female representation on FTSE 350 executive committees drops for first time in eight years

The Pipeline’s Women Count 2024 report reveals unacceptable declines of female representation across business leadership roles, following years of shockingly slow progress

Gender parity consultancy The Pipeline has today published its annual Women Count report, revealing that female representation on FTSE 350 executive committees has fallen for the first time since the count started eight years ago: with the average proportion of women in the boardroom of Britain’s biggest businesses declining to 32%.

Now in its ninth edition, The Pipeline’s Women Count report has been analysing gender parity data, sourced from BoardEx, an Altrata company, at executive committee level since 2016, shining a spotlight on the glacial rate of change for women in leadership.

Alongside a disappointing backwards step in overall female representation on boards, the 2024 Women Count also found:

• Just 9% of CEOs in the FTSE 350 are women: a figure which has only increased twice in eight years
• Only 18% of CFOs are women – despite women making up over 44% of chartered accountants
• And just 19% – less than a fifth – of commercial roles in the boardroom are occupied by women, a drop from the 2023 report. This figure is particularly concerning as these are key feeder roles to CEO and CFO positions

The report’s findings highlight a shocking reality: even though women make up half of the UK workforce, there is still a huge disparity at leadership level. As The Pipeline argues, against this backdrop there is no room for complacency when it comes to supporting female leaders – and with research showing that businesses with gender inclusive cultures are over 60% more likely to have improved profits and productivity, it is clearly a business necessity.

Furthermore, with women statistically outperforming male counterparts within higher education, The Pipeline’s report emphasises that this problem is not owing to a lack of female talent – action must be taken by businesses to promote and support more women to the top.

Based on 12 years’ experience with over 130 organisations, The Pipeline has reviewed what practical actions are driving progress in those organisations that do have greater gender parity.  The report distils these insights into four key success factors:

• Lead from the top: business leaders have to walk the talk when it comes to gender parity – clearly linking it to business strategy, actively demonstrating their personal commitment and sponsoring and promoting more women
• Fix the culture: workplaces must support women to thrive and develop at the rate they deserve. This includes being accommodating to unique life changes which many women experience, such as woman-specific health issues
• Drive accountability: progress is best achieved if leaders are made accountable for it – but businesses must also ensure they are capturing robust, clear data in order to drive forward accountability
• Don’t declare victory too soon: a staggering 47% of Britons have said that ‘things have gone far enough’ when asked about giving women equal rights. This is an untrue and unhelpful dynamic which must be tackled – businesses cannot afford to slam the brakes on DEI processes, as it will only undermine previous progress

Professor Geeta Nargund, Chair of The Pipeline, said: “It is unacceptable that gender representation in business leadership is moving backwards in 2024; the same year which has seen our new Government’s Cabinet almost achieve gender parity, and a record number of female MPs elected to Parliament. With our nation’s leadership making vital progress in women’s representation, we now need to see this better reflected across all sectors and industries.

“Female leadership is good for business. Organisations which are performing the best in terms of gender parity are 22% more likely to have improved profits versus those that perform the worst. Gender parity means economic prosperity, and so fair representation is not just a ‘nice to have’ or a tick-box exercise – it is a business imperative.

“Now is the time for action from businesses and leaders alike to initiate real change. And alongside promoting and investing in female leadership, employment policy changes to improve workplace conditions – such as flexible working and parental leave policies – across the workforce will be essential in helping women progress. After all, gender parity will not only pay dividends for organisations; but it also upholds the fundamental principles of a diverse and modern society.”

Liz Stanley, CEO of The Pipeline, added: “Our findings are unequivocal; the situation is getting worse rather than better. The drop in female representation on the executive committees of Britain’s biggest businesses highlights just how fragile any previous gains have been.

“There is no room for complacency. We simply cannot afford for businesses to lose focus or pay lip service when it comes to promoting and supporting women.  The pace of progress had already been glacial. We know that having women on executive committees is good for business – so it has to be a strategic imperative for all organisations. Gender parity should not be something we have to wait generations for: and if this is taken seriously now, we won’t have to.”