As white males continue to fill C-suite roles, women and other ethnic minorities see little or no progression.
By Zee Johnson
When it comes to leadership roles at big organisations, women and other minority ethnic groups are very often overlooked.
A recent report by recruitment consultancy Green Park stated that diverse leaders “hold less influence, have lower salaries, and are less likely to be on track to C-suite roles,” as white men continue to dominate top executive positions. The report also found that women and ethnic minorities were more likely to be “sidelined” into roles that “are traditionally less likely to lead to the top executive leadership spots.”
After the consultancy performed an analysis of The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 companies they found there were only 36 women holding a top three leadership role of chair, CEO, or CFO, an increase since the first analysis in 2014, where women accounted for just 13 of those roles (4.3%). And when it comes to ethnic minority representation, those numbers remain stagnant at 3.7%, having added only one additional ethnic minority since 2014.
The report stated, “At this rate of change (three additional females a year), it will be 2059 before women hold 50% of the top three roles.”
Chair of Green Park Trevor Phillips added, “One of the most significant findings from our 2020 survey was that for the first time since we began our analysis in 2014, at the UK’s largest companies, there are no black Chairs, CEOs, or CFOs.”
The report also showed a slight decline in the number of women being appointed as senior leaders. In 2021, that number stood at 28%, a .9% decline from 2019 (28.9%). The sectors that witnessed this decrease most included consumer goods, technology, and industrials, all of which are less diverse than they were eight years ago.
Baronness Helena Morrissey, a non-executive director at Green Park, believes the only way change can happen is if an organisation really wants it to. “To achieve results at the most senior levels and to sustain progress for gender diversity on boards, leaders must believe diversity and inclusion is integral to the success of their firm and embed this into the business agenda,” she said. “We need to see more leaders become true allies with their own goals bound together with this of their diverse talent.”
