UK ranks second globally for board level gender representation
Analysis from global consultancy partnership Kearney’s latest ‘Gender Equality Report’ has revealed progress in representation of women in both public and private sectors, but the figures still don’t show parity.
Ahead of International Women’s Day, Kearney’s analysis provides insight into the progress of gender diversity in private and public sectors across nine countries – the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, India, France, Spain, Germany, South Africa and Singapore.
The annual report revealed the average across countries in the study for board level representation of women is 29.9% – not even one in three. Across the FTSE 100, 36% of board members are women – an improvement from 33% in 2020.
One in three of these (12% of all total board members) are the most senior board members e.g. chairperson or member of the C-Suite. The UK also ranks highly for having the highest proportion of women on boards in these more senior roles – second only to South Africa (14%).
% Female board level representation by country | |
France | 43.8% |
UK | 36.0% |
Australia | 34.0% |
Germany | 32.5% |
Spain | 29.8% |
US | 29.8% |
South Africa | 28.5% |
Singapore | 17.3% |
India | 17.0% |
The report also analysed the sectors which showed the most promising levels of gender parity in the UK. Of the 375 female board members across the FTSE 100, 27% are in the Finance sector – comprising 36% of all Finance board members.
In the public sector, the UK maintains its 34% ranking for the number of female MPs as there hasn’t been a recent election. Only a third of countries surveyed (3 in 9) – including the UK – showed more promising gender parity on boards than in their parliament.
South Africa led the way in the public sector with 44% of its MPs being women – a huge step up from its 28.5% parity at board level.
% Female parliament representation by country | |
South Africa | 44.0% |
Spain | 42.0% |
Australia | 38.0% |
France | 37.0% |
UK | 34.0% |
Germany | 33.0% |
Singapore | 30.0% |
US | 27.0% |
India | 14.0% |
This year’s annual report demonstrates modest progress compared with 2020. Representation of women in the private sector has increased marginally in the United States (1.2%), United Kingdom (3%) and Australia (0.6%), as well as in the parliaments in Australia (1%) and the United States (3.5%), which had a record year for women elected. India remains the least gender diverse country studied with representation of women under 20% across both public (14%) and private sectors (17%).
Ramyani Basu, partner at Kearney, comments: “While it’s positive to see that the FTSE 100 has improved on the targets set by the Hampton-Alexander Review for the FTSE 350, there is still more to be done to reach true gender parity in the UK.
“Diversity has regularly been linked to high-performance with a variety of perspectives encouraging fresh ideas and preventing the dreaded group think. As the economy rebuilds from the aftermath of coronavirus, it will be crucial women are fairly represented in both public and private sector roles to help assist in its recovery.”
About Kearney
As a global consulting partnership in more than 40 countries, our people make us who we are. We’re individuals who take as much joy from those we work with as the work itself. Driven to be the difference between a big idea and making it happen, we help our clients break through. Learn more at Kearney.com.
About the research
Kearney‘s Gender Equality Report 2021 was based on research using publicly available data across nine countries – UK, US, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, India and Singapore – regarding the representation of women at board level and in their respective parliaments. Board information was gathered using the support of Factset.
Read the report: https://www.kearney.com/web/international-womens-day/article/?/a/the-equality-dilemma