Why do women occupy only 28.1% of senior leadership roles globally?

They’re graduating in greater numbers, outperforming in classrooms, and steadily joining the workforce across every major sector. But when it comes to leadership—the corner office, the boardroom, the real seat at the table—women are still not getting through the door.

According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2025 by the World Economic Forum (WEF), women hold just 28.1% of senior leadership positions worldwide. Despite significant progress in education and workforce participation, this number reveals a sobering reality: women are climbing the ladder, but still not leading.

This gap is not merely symbolic—it has real economic consequences. Leadership shapes culture, policy, and profit, and without women at the helm, organizations miss out on the diversity of thought and decision-making proven to drive innovation and performance. The problem isn’t a lack of qualified women—it’s that too few are being given the chance to lead.
The slow ascent to the topFrom 2015 to 2024, the share of women in top management globally rose only modestly—from 25.7% to 28.1%—and that momentum has slowed even further in the past two years. While select industries and regions have made progress, the overall pace remains disappointingly slow.

This stagnation isn’t due to a lack of talent or ambition. In fact, women are achieving academically at historic levels. The 2025 Global Gender Gap Report notes that the educational gender gap is now 95.1% closed, with women surpassing men in tertiary education across many countries. Yet these academic gains are not translating into equal representation in leadership.

The report also mentions that only 29.5% of senior managers with tertiary education are women, revealing a troubling disconnect: even when equally or more qualified, women are still less likely to rise to top roles. Education is no longer the barrier—access to opportunity is.
The leaky pipelineThis disconnect between education and elevation in leadership is often described as the “leaky pipeline”—a system in which women enter at junior levels but gradually drop off due to lack of opportunity, support, or advancement.

One factor is the uneven distribution of caregiving. The WEF report shows women are 55.2% more likely than men to take career breaks, and those breaks tend to be longer—19.6 months for women versus 13.9 months for men. Most of these breaks are tied to parenting and unpaid care work, a burden still overwhelmingly borne by women across cultures and economies.

Without structural support—such as accessible childcare, flexible work, and paid parental leave—these career breaks often come at the cost of momentum, visibility, and promotion.
Stuck in people-centric professionsAnother reason for the leadership gap is gender-based industry segregation. Women continue to be concentrated in lower-paying, “people-centric” sectors such as healthcare (58.5%) and education (52.9%). Meanwhile, industries traditionally associated with leadership pipelines—like finance, technology, and infrastructure—remain male-dominated, although there are signs of change.

Notably, women’s representation in infrastructure jobs grew by 8.9 percentage points, according to the WEF report. But these gains are the exception, not the rule.
Education is no longer the issueWomen have done their part. They’ve gone to school, earned their degrees, and joined the workforce. The problem no longer lies in qualification, but in translation—from classroom to career, and from entry-level to executive.

The global workforce participation rate for women is now 41.2%, a number that still lags significantly behind men. And of the women who do enter the workforce, far too few are given the mentorship, sponsorship, or opportunity needed to move up.

This isn’t just a gender issue—it’s an economic one. A more inclusive leadership landscape brings diverse perspectives, better decision-making, and stronger performance. Companies and countries alike are missing out on talent, innovation, and resilience by failing to elevate women into senior roles.
A call for systemic changeIf progress continues at the current rate, the report estimates it will take 123 years to close the global gender gap entirely. That means not just today’s generation of working women—but likely their daughters and granddaughters—will still be fighting for seats at the table.

To close this gap faster, experts point to several urgent interventions:

• Transparent promotion pathways
  
• Equal access to leadership training and mentorship
  
• Workplace policies that support caregiving and flexible careers
  
• Gender-balanced hiring and succession planning

Because women aren’t asking for shortcuts—they’re asking for systems that recognize their readiness and reward their contribution.

The world has made undeniable progress in education. But until leadership reflects that progress, the ladder remains broken. Women are climbing—but the top is still far too crowded with the same familiar faces.

It’s time to build a workforce where qualification leads to opportunity, and ambition is met with access. Not 123 years from now. But now.