CEOs: time out of workforce widens gender gap

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Why are not more women becoming CEOs? It is the million-dollar question that spawned endless think pieces after former Meta executive Sheryl Sandberg told women to “lean in” a decade ago.

Many factors, such as bias and levels of ambition, are difficult to measure. But academics from Aalto University in Finland tried to find elements that could be quantified through data. 

Time out of the workforce is the biggest, according to their analysis of 143,000 graduates’ careers in neighbouring Sweden. Even so, cracking the so-called motherhood penalty alone will not solve the problem.

The researchers say that time away from the labour market explained 26 per cent of the gender differences in graduates who became chief executives. Time away included sick leave, unemployment and parental leave. Among graduates who had children, the figure rose to 41 per cent. 

Another factor was the area graduates chose to specialise in. More men than women veered towards sales or production. CEOs tend to be recruited from areas such as these, plus finance.

There is hope for working mothers. The researchers focused on graduates born between 1962 and 1975 with a degree in business, economics and management. The study looked at individuals who became a chief executive in 2015. For much of their careers, movements including “lean in” were in their infancy.

In the UK, the proportion of FTSE 350 executive committee members who are women increased from 18.7 per cent in 2016 to 28.8 per cent last year, according to the FTSE Women Leaders Review. 

Companies such as Diageo have introduced policies that offer similar parental leave rights to men and women in many countries. More should follow.

There is no silver bullet to closing the CEO gender gap. But more companies offering equal parental leave rights would be a good step.