Number of women leading ASX200 companies falls to just 5% of chief executives
Of 25 chief executive appointments to ASX200 companies in the past year, only one was filled by a woman, an annual census has found.
The census, by non-profit Chief Executive Women, saw the overall number of women leading ASX200 companies fall in the same period to 10, representing just 5% of all chief executive positions.
It marks the lowest number of women in chief executive positions since CEW, an organisation that represents and supports women in leadership, began its annual census of gender representation in publicly listed company leadership teams four years ago.
The findings reveal top executive positions in Australian companies are still overwhelmingly dominated by men. Only 30 companies, or 15% of those in the ASX200, had 40%-60% women on their executive leadership team in 2020, representing a slight increase from 2019 (12%).
Nearly two-thirds (65%) of ASX200 companies have no women in roles with profit and loss responsibility on their executive leadership team, up from 57% last year. The telecommunications sector has the highest proportion of women in leadership roles with profit and loss responsibility as part of their remit, double the ASX200 average of 12%, the census found.
In industries with a predominantly female workforce, such as healthcare, there is strong under-representation of women in roles with profit and loss responsibility, with only 5% of those roles in the sector filled by women in 2020, down from 15% four years ago.
The findings follow a report published in June by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, which found a strong causal relationship between increasing women in leadership roles and subsequent improvements in a company’s financial performance, productivity and profitability.
In their foreword on the report on the census findings, CEW president Sue Morphet and business engagement committee chair Jenny Boddington wrote: “The number of female CEOs in the ASX200 is no greater in 2020 than the inaugural CEW Census found in 2017”.
“In fact we have seen a slight decline in the last two years,” they wrote. “We must ask, why is there not more progress? Previous Chief Executive Women research shows unconscious bias in recruitment and advancement is significant. Our research shows that caring for young children and the cost of childcare continue to present powerful financial disincentives to women working full time. But we also know that companies achieving gender balance in leadership roles are overcoming these barriers.”
Morphet said greater diversity led to improved company culture, more inclusive workforces and better decisions.
“We know that if businesses take immediate action to remove systemic barriers for women, particularly in career-forming years, they will see the most talented and qualified people appointed to senior positions which will benefit their company performance, and their bottom line,” she said.
The census calls for ASX200 companies to hold teams accountable for diversity targets in efforts to address pay inequality, and for gender bias in recruitment and promotion to be eliminated through using consistent and objective data to make appointments.
“Business leaders must focus on practical actions that will result in a real step change. They must hold their teams accountable for gender balance targets and have clear succession planning in place, especially for roles with profit and loss responsibility,” Morphet added.
CEW is also calling for the federal government to invest in making childcare more accessible in next month’s budget.