Published on: 2026-11-03
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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November 3, 2026 Women
Gender equality and diversity among employees benefit business. More and more women are taking top positions in the corporate world, but additional efforts are needed to consolidate this success. This conclusion was reached by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in a new report on the status of women in business and management.
From 2013 to 2025, the proportion of companies with a woman as chair of the board increased from 13.1 to 30.1 percent. The proportion of companies with a woman as CEO grew from 23.5 to 28.2 percent.
Nevertheless, women remain underrepresented among leaders overall and hold about one-third of managerial positions. Over the same period, gender balance improved at the top and senior management levels but worsened among lower and middle management.
Promises and actions
The report is based on a survey of 11,957 enterprises in 99 countries conducted by the ILO in 2025, as well as on surveys from 2013 and 2018, 30 years of labor market data, research, and case studies.
Nearly 70 percent of surveyed companies in 2025 stated that initiatives in gender equality and diversity improved their performance results. This is more than 11 percentage points higher than in 2018. Among companies reporting profit growth due to the advancement of women to leadership positions, 87.4 percent recorded an increase of at least 5 percent. Companies where the CEO or the chairman of the board was a woman also more often reported improved results.
However, although almost three quarters of companies (74.8 percent) in 2025 reported having a gender equality and diversity policy, in practice only 26.5 percent implemented measures in this area – compared to 37.4 percent in 2018. According to ILO data, the reduction also affected those measures that companies themselves consider most effective, including support programs related to motherhood and initiatives to ensure equal pay.
Untapped potential
The ILO notes that such results have been achieved despite significant progress in women’s education: today, they are more likely than men to obtain higher education. Nevertheless, women are still underrepresented in the fields and business sectors that pave the way to top executive positions.
“In conditions where enterprises compete for qualified personnel and talents, leaving the potential of women unrealized does not make much economic sense,” said Maria Pas Ansorregui, Director of the ILO Office for Employers’ Activities.
The report proposes practical measures: strengthening the system for preparing women to work as leaders, using gender metrics and voluntary target indicators, expanding access to positions and sectors where women are still underrepresented, as well as integrating gender equality principles into business strategies and accountability mechanisms. The authors also call for the removal of structural barriers beyond the workplace – unequal distribution of caregiving responsibilities, occupational segregation, and entrenched social norms.
The founder and chairman of the Philippine logistics company Airspeed, Rosemary Rafael, whose experience is described in the report, is confident that a company with a supportive culture, fair hiring, promotion, and pay will attract the best talent — both women and men. “And when women know they have a future in the company, they unfold to their full potential,” she said.
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