Gender Gap Narrows, But Too Few Women Reach Senior Leadership, New Study Shows
New research estimates that it will take another 123 years before the world achieves full gender ... More parity.
Gender parity is gaining ground in North America, and more women stepping into senior leadership roles may be a contributing factor.
According to the World Economic Forum's (WEF) newly released 'Global Gender Gap Report 2025,' North America ranks highest globally in gender parity, having closed 75.8% of its overall gender gap and ranking first in the category of economic participation and opportunity. Concurrently, women now lead 11% of all Fortune 500 companies, up from 10.4% last year. There has also been progress in the number of women heading S&P 500 firms. According to the 2025 Women's Power Gap (WPG) report 'Barriers and Breakthroughs,' the total women leading S&P 500 firms went from only nine in 2000 to 48 in 2025. Notably, the report also found that women are just as, if not more, qualified as men to lead.
Women Make Gains in Leadership, Yet the Climb is Still a Crawl
Despite substantial gains, the number of women in CEO-level positions remains low. In fact, the world could be well over a century away from achieving true gender parity. At the current rate, WEF's report projects it will take another 123 years before the world achieves full gender parity. Plus, according to the WPG report, of the 64 new S&P 500 CEOs appointed in 2024, only 11 were women (representing just 17% of all new CEO hires), and none were founders of those companies. And among the mere 11% of Fortune 500 companies led by women, all newly appointed female CEOs were internal promotions.
There's no doubt that progress has been made as more women lead some of the world's top companies. However, this progress doesn't negate the reality that men hold the vast majority of high-level leadership roles and that many women rely on internal promotions to even be considered for CEO positions.
This reality is particularly concerning given that, according to the WEF's report, women make up nearly half of the global workforce, yet hold less than a third of senior leadership roles. What's more, the report from the WPG found that women are less likely than men to be promoted or mentored into CEO-track roles.
When women are mainly promoted to CEO internally, but are underrepresented in senior leadership, they lack access to roles that serve as a pipeline to the top job. This further limits the pool of women positioned to become CEOs, underscoring just how far there is to go before full gender parity for women in leadership is within reach.
More Women in Senior Leadership Starts With Breaking Barriers
Ensuring more women have the opportunity to become CEOs begins with understanding why so few are promoted or hired into senior leadership roles. A key reason why a small number of women advance to senior leadership is the concept commonly known as the 'broken rung.' As previously reported, the broken rung refers to the systemic barriers that hinder women's advancement at every stage of their careers. In particular, the broken rung is the gap that prevents women from being promoted from entry-level to middle management positions. This critical gap in turn limits the number of women who can advance into mid-level positions, which then further limits the number who are promoted to or hired for senior leadership roles.
Additionally, according to a survey conducted by RecruitmentMarketing.com and The Muse, nearly half of women say they have encountered gender-biased questions or felt discriminated against during a job interview. What's more, data from Lean In found that only 72 women are promoted and hired for every 100 men promoted and hired. This suggests that permeating gender bias in the hiring process may be what's holding back women from being hired at all levels.
Fortunately, there are several effective strategies to overcome the challenges that hold women back from reaching their full potential. In its report, the WPG recommends that more companies create a pipeline to uplift women into positions with significant profit and loss experience, such as president, COO and regional or division heads. The WPG notes that profit and loss positions 'are most often the stepping stones' to CEO, yet only 24% of women make up these roles. Empowering more women to take on profit and loss experience will create more direct CEO pathways.
The WPG also urges companies to audit their workplaces for bias, address selection bias in hiring practices, establish mentorship programs that support women and underrepresented groups, and ensure CEOs act as 'de facto chief talent officers' who are attuned to the experiences of those often underrepresented in senior leadership. According to the WPG, these steps are essential to supporting underrepresented groups in the workplace, guaranteeing that 'no potential leader faces obstacles for advancement.'
Elevating Women into Leadership Pays Off
Holding women back from senior leadership not only goes against meritocratic values, it's also simply bad for business. McKinsey's report 'Diversity wins: How inclusion matters' found that businesses ranking in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the lowest quartile for gender diversity at the senior level. Moreover, according to research from the National Girls Collaborative Project, companies with more women executives outperform their peers in profitability, market share, and shareholder returns. In other words, the data indicates that elevating more women to the C-suite is a business imperative.
Significant strides have been made in propelling women into senior leadership, and today's corporate landscape is far more diverse than it was two decades ago. Yet, while the gender gap continues to narrow, achieving full gender parity shouldn't be 123 years away (well out of reach for even the next generation of young women). To accelerate change, it's critical that businesses take intentional steps to promote, hire, train, and mentor women at every level of an organization. Through bold action today, having full gender parity in our lifetime is within reach. And after all, the data shows it's a goal well worth investing in.
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