Global Women Leadership Trends

What is the current state of research on women in leadership? Really exciting to see this new systematic review in The Leadership Quarterly. The authors integrate decades of research to answer two core questions; 🔎 What factors influence whether women emerge as leaders (female leadership emergence)? 🔎 What factors influence their effectiveness once they do (leadership effectiveness? Highlights 💠 Female Leadership Emergence: Despite progress, women still emerge less often as leaders, primarily due to stereotypes and a perceived lack of fit with traditional leadership roles. Traits such as agency and resilience positively influence emergence, while low self-confidence and stereotype-driven bias hinder it. 💠Effectiveness: Female leaders are often rated as more effective than males by others, though they tend to underrate themselves. Objective outcomes (like firm performance) show mixed results depending on the metric (e.g., positive for sales, neutral for ROI). 💠Traits & Surface-Level Characteristics: Traits like emotional intelligence, resilience, and openness benefit women more. Gendered expectations and intersectionality (race, age, etc.) further complicate perceptions. 💠Attributions & Perceptions: Stereotypes remain a major barrier, but competent female leaders can benefit from the "double standards of competence" effect. Men often hold stronger biases, though exposure to female leaders can mitigate these views. 💠Behaviors: Women tend to adopt communal and participative leadership styles. Combining agency and communion helps avoid backlash. Transformational leadership styles are only marginally more common among women and sometimes do not benefit women as much as men. 💠Contextual Factors: Work-family balance challenges and male-dominated industries negatively impact leadership trajectories. However, the presence of female mentors and role models, supportive organizational culture, and quota systems can be positive. 💠Crises & the Glass Cliff: Women are more likely to be appointed to risky leadership roles during crises—a phenomenon known as the “glass cliff.” While this may open opportunities, it often lacks the support needed for success. 📌 Key insight: Female leaders thrive when they’re supported by inclusive contexts, visible role models, and leadership development that equips them to navigate both structural and interpersonal challenges. A must-read for anyone designing leadership programs, studying gender equity, or supporting the next generation of leaders. 📖 Citation: Buss, M., Andler, S., & Tiberius, V. (2024). Female leadership: An integrative review and research framework. The Leadership Quarterly. https://lnkd.in/gWAUXmuH #leadership #womenleaders #genderdiversity #leadershipresearch #evidencebasedpractice #leadershipdevelopment #organisationalpsychology

International Women's Day is about celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity – including in the workplace.   LinkedIn data shows that despite decades of progress for women at work, they are still underrepresented at the highest levels of companies. Women may hold 42% of jobs globally, but they occupy less than a third of leadership positions.   In the Middle East, women remain largely underrepresented in leadership positions. The trend for women in leadership in the UAE, for example, is 22%, lagging behind the global average. Since 2016, however, there has been progress in the country, with an increase of two percentage points. Globally, there's also been progress, with more women being appointed to senior roles, accounting for 37% of all leadership hires in 2023, up from 33% in 2016. However, LinkedIn's Economic Graph suggests that women fare worse during economic uncertainty, with fewer women hired for senior roles when job market conditions deteriorate. In 2020, at the height of the Covid pandemic, the data shows that the share of hiring women into leadership roles in the UAE stagnated (24%) before continuing on an upward trajectory reaching 27% in 2023. Despite progress, there’s still a long way to go to close the gender gap, with overall women representation across almost all sectors in the UAE falling under the 50% mark. Even industries where women either make up the majority of the workforce or nearly half of it, they are underrepresented in leadership. In education, for example, women account for 52% of the workforce but 41% of leadership positions. Similarly, in the hospitals and healthcare industry, women represent 49% of the workforce but only 31% of leaders.   The data clearly illustrates the 'broken rung' phenomenon, where we see a diminishing number of women as we move up each level of the hierarchy. In many countries, including the UAE, the first significant drop in women's representation occurs between the senior contributor and manager levels. While in the UAE there is a marginal three-percent increase in women’s representation between manager and director levels, it consistently then declines, culminating in a sharp decrease in the number of women in the C-suite.    To accelerate positive change, employers can boost women’s representation through a skills-first hiring approach. LinkedIn's 2023 Skills First report found embracing such a policy significantly increases the number of workers in talent pools, particularly for women. Measures like flexible schedules and parental leave can also enhance inclusivity. What other strategies can be employed to strengthen women's representation in leadership? Join the conversation. #LinkedInNewsMiddleEast #IWD24 #InternationalWomensDay   Reported by Dana Moukhallati Insights by Silvia Lara (LinkedIn's Economic Graph)    Sources https://lnkd.in/gtPZ_T2X https://lnkd.in/gW4sRyqE 📷 Getty

🚨 KPMG's new data reveals something deeply troubling about female leadership in 2025. 👇 "Hard work" as a success factor jumped 77%. "Personal ambition" increased 58%. Meanwhile, "being a good leader" and "strategic thinking" DECLINED in importance. Read that again. Female executives are telling us that actual leadership skills matter less than grinding harder. After decades of proving our competence, we're being pushed back into "proving mode"—where exhaustion becomes the currency of credibility and strategic brilliance takes a backseat to visible struggle. This isn't progress. This is regression. In my latest analysis of the Global Female Leaders Outlook 2025, I dig into what the data really reveals: → Why 90% growth confidence coexists with declining diversity optimism → How digital violence (experienced by 1 in 3 leaders) is treated as "part of the job" → The hidden cost when excellence requires endurance → What organizations lose when their best leaders spend energy on survival instead of vision The most capable leaders shouldn't have to choose between authenticity and advancement. Yet the data shows that's exactly what we're asking them to do. Link to full article below. What's your take? Are we celebrating resilience when we should be changing systems? #WomenInLeadership #FemaleLeaders #Workplace #Gender #KPMG

📉 For the third year in a row, the rate of women hired into leadership roles is declining. In 2024, women accounted for 51% of total hires, but just 33% of leadership hires. This is no longer just a matter of representation—it's a red flag for the competitiveness of our organizations. As highlighted in the Global Gender Gap Report 2025, developed with data from LinkedIn’s Economic Graph, inclusion is not just a value—it's a strategy. A strategy for innovation. For resilience. For future readiness. The full report is packed with eye-opening data—disaggregated by industry, role, geography, and income level. It reveals that economic parity is still over a century away. And that the greatest gaps remain in leadership and earnings. As AI redefines leadership, human skills like empathy, adaptability, and critical thinking will only grow more vital. Women—often with non-linear, cross-functional careers—bring precisely the kind of agile mindset this moment demands. The path forward is clear: ✅ Transparent career progression ✅ Investment in skills, not stereotypes ✅ Cultures that value people, not just positions We all have a role in shifting the trend. 📊 Explore the full report here: https://lnkd.in/djw4MrZn #GenderEquity #FutureOfWork #Leadership #AI #Inclusion #GlobalGenderGap #DiversityInTech #LinkedInEconomicGraph

On the topic of women’s leadership: Women’s leadership has increasingly been recognized as a critical determinant of organizational performance, innovation, and societal advancement. Evidence demonstrates that companies with greater female representation in leadership achieve superior financial outcomes, a finding consistently highlighted in global analyses (McKinsey, 2020). Building on this, meta-analyses show that women tend to employ collaborative and transformational leadership styles, marked by strong communication, teamwork, and resilience (Eagly et al.). These leadership traits not only strengthen internal organizational culture but also foster environments conducive to creativity and innovation. Recent meta-analytic reviews (2021–2024) have confirmed that female transformational leadership directly enhances employee creativity, shapes innovation-supportive climates, and accelerates organizational innovation. In parallel, a 2025 systematic review reinforces these associations, demonstrating significant correlations between women’s leadership, improved financial performance, and stronger workforce engagement (BMJ Global Health, 2025). Complementary firm-level analyses across developing economies further reveal that greater female leadership representation is linked to measurable gains in corporate innovation capacity (Nature, 2024). Beyond organizational contexts, women’s leadership in the public sphere has been shown to correlate with higher national investment in health, education, and social welfare. Taken together, these findings illustrate a coherent and compelling pattern: women’s leadership is not only a matter of equity but also a strategic imperative that delivers tangible benefits for institutions and societies alike.

At #CSW70, UN Women and the Inter-Parliamentary Union launched our 2026 edition of the Map of Women in Politics. The data reveal a grim picture of stagnation and regression precisely when women's leadership is most needed. We know change is possible. Fourteen countries have reached gender parity in their cabinets. But globally, progress remains far too slow. Key findings from the Map include: 🔶 Women hold just 22.4 per cent of cabinet minister positions globally, down from 23.3 per cent in 2024, marking a reversal after years of gradual progress. 🔶 Women hold 27.5 per cent of parliamentary seats worldwide, up slightly from 27.2 per cent in 2025. The increase of just 0.3 percentage points marks the second consecutive year of the slowest growth recorded since 2017. 🔶 Women represent 19.9% of Speakers of Parliament globally, representing a nearly four-percentage-point decline from the previous year and the first drop in women Speakers in 21 years. When women are excluded from leadership, decisions about peace, security, and economic priorities are made without half of the world’s experience at the table. At a time of rising conflict, democratic strain, and backlash against women’s rights, that absence weakens the quality of decision-making everywhere. Even when women enter politics, they are still pushed toward a narrow set of portfolios, while men continue to dominate defense, finance, and security. Even where representation is improving in numbers, power is not yet equally shared. Parity in politics is structural. Institutions make better decisions when they reflect the societies they serve. And democracies are stronger when women are not only present, but influential, at every level of leadership. Progress is not inevitable. It is the result of deliberate choices. As we gather at CSW70, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to accelerate progress towards equal representation in decision-making at every level. 🔗 Read the press release: https://lnkd.in/ggFjDmv7 🌍 See the map here: https://lnkd.in/gBcJYH_x Julie Ballington #SDG5 #GenderEquality

I'm happy share a report I co-authored with our repeated collaborators over at World Economic Forum: Closing the Gender Gap in Senior Leadership (June 2026). We have shown in many Global Gender Gap reports together over the last half decade the stark leadership gap women face across the world, and recently that momentum at the top has stalled. What we set out to do in this report was go beyond where the gaps are to why they're so persistent. A few findings have stuck with me: - The path to CEO runs through a narrow door. 76% of CEOs at the largest public companies had prior C-suite experience — most often CEO, CFO, or COO. Women hold only ~20% of CEO and ~30% of CFO/COO roles, with higher representation in such roles as Chief Human Resource Officer, Chief People Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer. Underrepresentation in typical "feeder" CXO positions becomes self-reinforcing. - Women build broader careers, but the system rewards a different shape. Women who reach the C-suite have, on average, worked across more functions and industries than men, yet often lack the P&L roles that convert experience into succession candidacy. - Networks are an invisible gatekeeper. Among C-suite professionals, men have ~31% more connections to other C-suite leaders. In the US, 45% of men report having a sponsor vs. 31% of women. - The care penalty is real and concentrated at the top. Women in top-level management are ~11x more likely than men to have taken a full-time parental leave, and women's career breaks last longer (19.6 vs. 13.9 months on average). These are system design problems, not talent-supply problems. The pipeline is full of qualified women, but structural factors limit the ability of women to make it to the end of that pipeline. I'm very grateful to everyone who contributed. If you care about building leadership pipelines that are both more inclusive and more resilient, give it a read: https://lnkd.in/dpSfXgE9 Special thanks to my LinkedIn's Economic Graph colleagues Silvia Lara and Sarah Steinberg, as well as the always-excellent WEF team leading this report: Silja Baller, Yanjun G., Julia Hakspiel, and Saadia Zahidi.

Lean In and McKinsey just released their 11th annual Women in the Workplace report (full report attached), and the story this year is concerning. Looking across the 2024 and 2025 findings, a few trends stand out: 🔷 The broken rung persists for the 11th straight year. In 2024, just 81 women were promoted for every 100 men. In 2025, the ratio is 93 to 100, but still far below parity, and even lower for women of color. Until companies fix this first step, representation gaps will cascade all the way to the top. 🔷 Progress at the top is real but fragile. Women hold 29% of C-suite roles, up from 17% a decade ago, yet that number flatlined in 2025. Last year’s report warned that these gains were driven largely by growth in staff roles, not line roles, making it an unsustainable path to parity. 🔷 Company commitment is declining at the exact moment women need more support. In 2024, Lean In and McKinsey cautioned that companies were “pulling back” on DEI efforts, including sponsorship and career development for women and women of color. This year, only half of companies say women’s advancement is a high priority, and even fewer are prioritizing women of color. For the first time, we’re seeing the impact: a meaningful ambition gap. 🔷 Women are highly committed, yet less likely to want a promotion. In 2025, 80% of women want to advance vs. 86% of men. But when women receive the same sponsorship and managerial support as men, the ambition gap disappears. In other words, this is not a “women’s ambition” problem; it’s an opportunity and support problem. 🔷 Early-career women face the steepest climb. Entry-level women are: 🔸 Less likely to have a sponsor 🔸 Less likely to receive stretch assignments 🔸 Far less likely to be promoted 🔸 Less encouraged to use AI tools (a key future advancement driver) We are shaping women’s long-term trajectories positively or negatively starting in year one. 🔷 Flexibility stigma is quietly eroding advancement. Women who work remotely are far less likely to be promoted or sponsored than women onsite. In contrast, men receive more similar levels of sponsorship and promotions regardless of where they work. This is a structural bias masquerading as a performance signal. The throughline from 2024 to 2025 is unmistakable. Women have shown unwavering ambition and performance. The question is whether companies will keep pace. If 2024 was the warning, 2025 is the inflection point. Leaders must recommit to building pathways. Sponsorship, fair promotion practices, manager accountability, and flexible work without penalty are not “DEI initiatives.” These are business-critical talent strategies. When women rise, organizations rise with them. #womenintheworkplace #leanin #mckinsey #dei #leadership #sherylsandberg

This #IWD comes at a pivotal moment for the global labor market. 🌍 Hiring remains about 20% below pre-pandemic levels, job mobility is at a ten-year low, and structural shifts- from AI transformation to the clean energy transition- are rapidly reshaping which skills and roles are in demand. Moments like this determine who succeeds in the future of work. And when we look at LinkedIn data, we see something concerning: 📉 Progress on women in leadership has stalled. 📊 Our new research on The State of Women in Leadership shows: ▪️ Women hold just 31% of leadership roles globally, despite making up 44% of the workforce. ▪️ After steady gains from 2015–2022, progress has slowed sharply, increasing just 0.1 percentage points in the past year. ▪️ The biggest drop-offs happen at key career transitions, especially the move from individual contributor → first-time manager and VP → C-suite. ▪️ Even in industries where women make up much of the workforce, they remain significantly underrepresented at the top. Why does this matter right now? ⚠️ Economic slowdowns often narrow opportunity. When hiring tightens, it’s easy for organizations to fall back on old assumptions about what leadership looks like. At the same time, some of the fastest-growing parts of the economy — AI and green jobs — are areas where women remain underrepresented. So this isn’t just about fairness. 💡 It’s about economic competitiveness. In a slowing global economy, every country and every company is searching for growth. And we will not unlock that growth without unlocking the full productive capacity of the workforce. Expanding women’s leadership and participation isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s an economic imperative. Huge thanks to my colleagues driving this work Silvia Lara Matthew Baird Rosie Hood, PhD Pei Ying CHUA 📄 Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/eb5kw3QQ

Our latest study, published in BMJ Global Health, underscores a crucial yet often overlooked truth: women’s leadership isn’t just about equity—it’s about impact. The majority of studies reported a positive impact of women's leadership in 6 areas of impact: 1. Financial performance, risk, and stability 2. Innovation 3. Engagement with ethical and sustainability initiatives 4. Health outcomes 5. Organizational culture and climate, including reputation, employee retention, and team cohesion and communication 6. Influence on other women’s careers and aspirations. Even those studies reporting mixed findings still largely pointed to positive results, particularly when modified by other factors, such as better education, greater levels of experience, and opportunities to work with other women across an organization. This paper sheds light on the evidence behind why we must do more to support and sustain women’s leadership. 🌍 📖 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e9imfQyV This research is funded by The Global Financing Facility (GFF) and is part of a mixed-methods study conducted across sub-Saharan Africa on the impact of women's leadership on gender and health outcomes. More to come! Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Center for Global Women's Health & Gender Equity, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, WomenLift Health, Women in Global Health, Rosemary Morgan, PhD, Charlotte Pram Nielsen, Katherine Banchoff, Kelly E. Perry, MPH, Anju Malhotra