Women in FTSE top jobs down by 20pc

FTSE firms have been accused of a “woeful” lack of progress as the number of women in senior executive roles has dropped by more than a fifth.

A report by Cranfield University found that there are 30 women in fulltime executive roles at FTSE 250 firms, a drop from 38 last year.

Women make up 6.4 per cent of fulltime executives, the report found, with five of the 30 holding chief executive positions and 19 as chief financial officers. “It is imperative that FTSE 250 companies examine their female talent pipeline, identify the challenges and commit to improving this woeful situation,” the report said.

The number of boards where all positions were held by men has risen from eight to 10, the report added.

In the FTSE Women on Boards report, which has been produced for 20 years, academics said it was “disappointing to see a slowing of pace in appointing women to boards. The authors warned that while many companies had started high-profile diversity drives, it was having limited real-life impact.

“There is no doubt that there is a tremendous amount of activity around gender diversity in many of the FTSE 350 companies – great policies, innovative women’s leadership programmes and unconscious bias training available to all employees,” the report said.

“Yet these count for nothing unless targets are truly embedded in the organisation.”

The report also said that senior teams were less likely to take a chance in giving women promotions.

“Men are more likely to be judged on potential, whereas women need to have proved their capability,” it added.

Fiona Hathorn, managing director of Women on Boards UK, said: “It is clear to me that there is very little effective and collaborative leadership happening in the UK, regardless of the number of women on the board.”