The “most admired” companies have a higher percentage of female executives. This is evident from the results of Weber Shandwick's Gender Forward Pioneer (GFP) Index published yesterday. However, this percentage is still well below gender equality. The index also shows that women make up just 10.9 percent of senior executives at the world's 500 largest companies. None of these companies has an equal representation of men and women in their senior management team and nearly four in 10 companies (37.6 percent) have an all-male senior management team.
The GFP Index measures the percentage of women in senior management positions at Fortune Global 500 companies. Weber Shandwick surveyed these companies and looked at the gender balance among their senior executives. In total, more than 8,600 executives were assessed in 36 countries.
The most gender-equal companies in the world
While no global company has gender equality in executive roles, some industries outperform others. The same goes for companies in certain markets.
· The best performing sector for women in senior management is general trade, with an index of 33 percent (versus an average of 10.9 percent across all industries).
Five industries have no women on their senior management teams:diversified wholesalers, food and grocery wholesalers, shipping, staffing and textiles.
· North America has the highest percentage of women in senior management. Nearly two in 10 (19 percent) senior executives in North America are women.
· Sweden is the market with the highest percentage of women in senior management, followed by Turkey (27 percent and 26 percent, respectively).
In total, only 13 of the Global Fortune 500 have a female CEO.
