UN study finds increase in women managers, urges greater efforts for workforce equality | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD)

The last 20 years has seen a surge in the number of women employed in senior and middle management positions, according to a new United Nations report, which notes that although all-male company boards are decreasing in number, more must be done to achieve gender parity.

The study, released by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and entitled Women in Business and Management: Gaining Momentum, covers 80 of the 108 countries for which ILO data is available.

It finds that over the past two decades women have attained 20 per cent or more of all board seats in a handful of countries: Norway, which, at 13.3 per cent, boasts the highest global proportion of companies with a woman as company chairperson, is closely followed by Turkey at 11.1 per cent.

“Our research is showing that women’s ever increasing participation in the labour market has been the biggest engine of global growth and competitiveness,” said Deborah France-Massin, Director of the ILO Bureau for Employers’ Activities, in a press release.

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