Ireland’s progress on women in leadership

These are not small gains. They reflect two decades of steady change in how organisations think about leadership, talent and workplace culture. When this research began in 2004, women held just 15.6% of senior roles in Ireland.

The results illustrate what we already see in our daily working lives: gender diversity is good for business. In our world of professional services, the composition of teams has become part of how organisations present themselves to the market. Diverse teams bring broader perspectives to complex decisions and better reflect the clients they serve.

It also plays a role in the fight for talent as prospective employees increasingly ask about the gender balance of senior leadership teams and look for tangible evidence of equality commitments before accepting roles. 

Organisations that take gender equality seriously are strengthening decision-making at the top. But the data also highlights a challenge that remains stubbornly consistent. Women are still four times more likely to be CFO or HR director than the CEO. 

Ireland’s progress is real

The headline figures this year are encouraging. Representation of women in senior leadership has risen by almost five percentage points in a single year, reaching 41.4%. At the same time, the proportion of Irish businesses with no women in senior management has dropped from 16.3% to 6.9%.

Taken together, these numbers suggest progress is becoming structural rather than symbolic. More organisations are building leadership teams that reflect a broader range of experience and perspective. 

Ireland’s performance also stands out internationally. The global average for women in senior management roles remains below one third. 

This progress did not happen by accident. Over the past two decades, organisations have introduced policies and practices designed to support more inclusive career paths. Flexible working arrangements, clearer promotion pathways and more transparent leadership pipelines have all played a role.

Where progress still stalls

Despite these gains, the distribution of leadership roles tells a more complicated story.

Women are strongly represented in functional leadership positions such as finance and human resources. The data suggests that while representation has improved across senior management, the transition into CEO and chair roles remains more limited. This pattern is not unique to Ireland. It appears across many markets and industries. 

So how do we solve it? Research consistently points to a few common factors that we also see showing up in everyday business life.

Career breaks remain an important part of many women’s professional journeys. Organisations that support those breaks without penalising long-term career progression tend to see stronger representation at the most senior levels.

Flexible and hybrid working models also play a role. When flexibility is embedded into organisational culture rather than treated as an exception, it allows leadership careers to evolve alongside personal responsibilities.

Finally, the composition of teams matters. Diverse teams tend to create more visible pathways for leadership progression. When organisations build leadership groups with a healthy balance of perspectives and experiences, the pipeline into top roles becomes stronger.