Fewer women in top FTSE 250 roles as 'glass ceiling' persists

The glass ceiling for women in top roles at FTSE 250 companies is still "stubbornly in place", according to research that found the number of women in executive director roles had fallen by more than 10% in the past two years.

- Joanna Partridge

While gender diversity overall is improving in boardrooms, as more women are appointed to nonexecutive director (NED) roles, progress in the appointments of women at the top, executive-board level is in reverse, according to Cranfield University and EY.

The academics behind the Female FTSE Board Report identified maternity bias, childcare policies and the male-dominated nature of the executive environment as factors that prevent women from securing the top jobs at listed companies.

The number of women holding executive positions at FTSE 250 firms fell from 47 in 2022 to 42 in 2024, the report found, a decline of 11%.