Four in Five Top UK and US Companies Never Had Female CEO

Eighty per cent of companies across the FTSE 100 and S&P 100 have never appointed a female chief executive, according to data from the latest Women in Work tracker.

Despite increasing numbers of women joining corporate boards, executive leadership remains overwhelmingly male. Across both major market indexes, only 38 out of 200 companies have appointed a woman to the top post since 1997. Although half of those appointments occurred within the past decade, progress remains concentrated in a small group of businesses. Within London benchmark FTSE 100 index, just nine companies currently have a female chief executive, including major firms such as BP, Aviva, and Vodafone.

Pavita Cooper, chair of the 30% Club UK, stated that the disparity stems from corporate promotion structures rather than a shortage of qualified candidates.

"This gap is not about talent, it’s a promotion gap. There are not enough women being promoted up into the jobs from which you can succeed to be CEO," Cooper said.

She noted that female executives are rarely placed in operational positions that traditionally lead to chief executive appointments.

"The problem…they’re not in what we call power roles. They’re not in the divisional jobs. They’re not running all the canned foods for Unilever, they’re not running the biggest part of the bank for Barclays."

Mid career pipeline obstacles

The tracker points to significant drop offs in career progression during middle management. According to separate findings from Octopus Money, 70 per cent of women between the ages of 35 and 44 step out of the workforce for caring responsibilities, coinciding with the period when professional earnings and career acceleration typically peak.

Cooper highlighted the compound impact of personal responsibilities at key career stages.

"Between the age of 30 to 40, when most people are having to really lean into that key point in their career, women are also raising families," Cooper said. "And then, for women who are kind of getting to that very top job… you’ll have kids about to go to university, you might be caring for your own parents."

Recent corporate policy changes have added further pressure. Mandatory return to office policies across major financial institutions are reducing working flexibility, which Cooper argued disproportionately affects working parents.

The comments come after Barclays staff recently opposed a policy requiring thousands of Canary Wharf employees to work from the office three days a week.

"Wealthy men on Wall Street telling women they’ve got to go back to the office five days a week isn’t helpful."

Tenure patterns and repeat appointments

Women who secure chief executive positions frequently maintain long tenures. Former Pearson chief executive Marjorie Scardino held the position for 15 years following her appointment in 1997. Amanda Blanc has led insurer Aviva for six years following a broad restructuring at the firm.

Companies that have previously chosen female leaders show a higher likelihood of repeating the decision. Burberry, Entain, and London Stock Exchange Group have each appointed two female chief executives.

However, internal corporate programs alone are insufficient to resolve career progression hurdles, according to Cooper, who advocated for broader structural changes.

"The really progressive companies have done all the obvious things they can do. It’s a wider societal shift now. That’s going to require the government to lean into childcare provision and tax breaks."

Source: City A.M.