01291 437 054

Gender Diversity and Dealmaking 2022

While progress is being made toward achieving parity between men and women at the board level, much work needs to be done. In 2021, executive search firm Spencer Stuart found that 30 percent of all directors at the boards of S&P 500 companies were women, compared to 28 percent in the firm’s 2020 study. Although a move in the right direction, this shows just how far there is left to go, as does the finding in the firm’s 2020 survey that for the first time, there was at least one woman on every S&P 500 board.

The number of female CEOs is also on the rise, with research conducted by executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles finding that the share of women CEOs of all CEOs appointed in the first six months of 2021 doubled to 13 percent, up from a GENDER DIVERSITY AND DEALMAKING 2022 mere six percent share in the previous six months. While studies such as these show that progress is being made, women remain underrepresented at the most senior levels.