Grant Thornton’s global survey reveals a regression in APAC gender diversity and a significant drop in the percentage of female CEOs worldwide
Grant Thornton’s latest report surveyed approximately 5,000 mid-market businesses* in 28 countries between October and December 2023 to track the global progress of women in senior management. The report reveals that the Asia-Pacific region has seen regression in fostering gender diversity, with female leaders accounting for 31% in 2024, down from 32% in 2023, which trails behind other major regions. Latin America leads with 36% of senior management positions held by women.
This year marks the 20th year of Grant Thornton’s work in monitoring and measuring the proportion of women occupying senior management roles in mid-market companies around the world. Although the percentage of women in senior management roles globally has increased from 19.4% to 33.5% over two decades, progress remains disappointingly slow, with just a 1.1 percentage point increase from last year. Alarmingly, 7% of mid-market businesses globally still have no women in senior leadership roles.
It is concerning that the return-to-office trend following the pandemic would impede progress towards gender equity, as flexible working arrangements have been shown to empower women in leadership positions. Without further action from businesses to support women in senior leadership, gender parity in senior management will not be achieved until 2053 at the current pace.
This year, the percentage of female CEOs dropped significantly from 28% to 19% compared to last year. The regional trend indicates a 14-percentage-point decrease in China between 2023 and 2024.
Li Huiqi, CEO of Grant Thornton China, stated that although there has been an increase in the global discussion on gender equality, progress has been slow. Enterprises must take concrete and effective measures at every level, from high-level strategy to daily practices, to push for parity and build a more diverse, equal, and inclusive working environment.
Sue Cheng, Partner of People & Culture at Grant Thornton China, suggests that mid-market companies have the flexibility to drive significant change. Cheng encourages these companies to proactively develop a DE&I strategy that aligns with their business objectives and integrates fully into their organizational culture and values. Increasing the proportion of female executives is not only a moral imperative but also beneficial for the business's economics.
According to a report from the World Bank, closing economic gender gaps could unlock a 'gender dividend' of $172 trillion for the global economy.
Significant resignations occurred at large corporations in 2022/23, and leaders in the mid-market seemed to follow suit. Female CEOs at larger firms cited public pressure, caregiving responsibilities, and the need to adopt more masculine behaviours as reasons for leaving their roles.
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Mabel Chan, deputy managing partner at Grant Thornton Hong Kong said, “Female CEOs frequently often encounter huge obstacles when striving to attain such positions initially. There are distinct expectations for female and male CEOs, making it generally more challenging for women to be positively perceived when expressing opinions or dissent.” She added, “The global economy has revived ingrained biases, especially during times of uncertainty. As a result, the number of female senior leaders tends to decrease as businesses often favour individuals perceived as aggressive and assertive, qualities typically associated with men.”
While APAC underperformed the global benchmark, significant country-by-country variation exists within the region.
Although country-level policies may not directly target increasing the number of women in senior management, commitments to improving women's access to job opportunities have positively influenced progress towards senior-level parity.
In the past year, global mid-market firms have witnessed a significant return to office-based work. Presently, 47% of businesses operate primarily from the office, up from 36% the previous year. In comparison, 45% have adopted a hybrid model, down from 53% last year. The potential driver behind this situation is male CEOs, as 50% of businesses led by men are mainly office-based, in contrast to 40% of businesses led by women.
The freedom to choose a work location provides substantial advantages for women in business, impacting not only those in senior positions but also contributing to the development of the talent pipeline. Flexibility is crucial for retaining and advancing women in the workplace.
Mabel Chan concluded, “The advancement in the representation of women in senior management within the mid-market sector has been disappointingly slow. We urge businesses to take concrete measures proactively by following three pathways to hasten progress towards gender parity. These include appointing both a senior leader and a female senior leader to lead Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) efforts, establishing a dedicated DE&I strategy with regular reviews to ensure its effectiveness in increasing the percentage of women in senior management roles, and reassessing decisions related to the workforce’s return-to-office arrangement.”
The full report Women in Business 2024: Pathways to Parity is now available at:
*The definition of mid-market businesses varies across the world. For example, in mainland China, we interviewed businesses with annual revenue ranging from USD 5 million to USD 500 million; in the United States, those with USD 100 million to USD 4 billion in annual revenue; in Europe, they are commonly defined as those with 50 to 500 employees.