What we suspected was the case post pandemic has been confirmed by the World Economic Forum: the progress towards gender parity is stalling.

The new figures out this month, which come from research in 146 countries worldwide, show that at the current rate it will take 132 years to reach full gender parity. In 2020, we were on course to close the gender gap in 100 years.

The share of women hired into leadership roles has seen a steady increase from 33.3% in 2016 to 36.9% in 2022. 

But only select industries have levels near gender parity in leadership, such as Education (46%), and Personal Services and Wellbeing (45%). 

At the other end of the range, Energy (20%), Manufacturing (19%), and Infrastructure (16%) continue to have consistently low gender parity.

And, while the share of women in leadership has been increasing over time, women have not been hired at equal rates across industries, the report reveals. On average, more women are being hired into leadership roles in industries where women are already highly represented.

“Sadly, these figures confirm what we have suspected from the hundreds of conversations we have been having with major companies across the world since the pandemic,” said Katie Litchfield, WeQual Founder. “But there is hope, as we are seeing more and more senior leaders, particularly women, engaging and really pushing the agenda to accelerate the change which companies now know needs to happen.”

You can download the report on the World Economic Forum website. 

If you’d like to speak to one of the WeQual team about how you can better support your women in senior leadership, contact us.