ISSUE FOUR • June 2018
/ Diversity & Internationalisation
Glass Ceiling or Higher Hurdles? According to The Fawcett Society, women in the UK make just “6% of FTSE 100 CEOs, 16.7% Supreme Court Justices, 17.6% of national newspaper editors, 26% of cabinet ministers, 32% of MPs”. Every sector is dominated by men1. Furthermore, women in business hold only 9.8% of executive roles and 27.7% of all directorships. Only 4% of women in the UK are involved in entrepreneurial activities, less than half compared to men. At the same time, “companies across all sectors with the most women on their boards of directors significantly and consistently outperform those with no female representation – by 41% in terms of return on equity and by 56% in terms of operating results”, and “companies in the highest percentile of women on their boards outperformed those in the lowest percentile by 53% higher return on equity, 42% higher return on sales, and 66% higher return on invested capital.” 2
Professor Nigar Hashimzade
