The FTSE Women Leaders Review introduced the four key positions: Chair, Senior Independent Director (SID), Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Financial Officer.

Despite improvements in boardroom gender diversity over the past decade, our latest research shows that less than 1% of these roles are held by women of colour and only 13% of the positions are held by women overall – a far cry from the 1 in 4 target set by the FCA.

What’s more, our data shows that board gender diversity in the AIM listing has got worse in the last year, with the number of all-male boards rising to over one third – an increase of over 70% compared to last year.

Fiona Hathorn, CEO and co-founder of Women on Boards says,

“Targets and scrutiny have resulted in hard-fought gains at FTSE 350 level. However, it’s time to extend focus to the smaller listed companies and ensure that efforts to monitor board diversity are intersectional across gender and ethnicity.”

We also delve into how boards are addressing People and Culture concerns.

54% of the members we surveyed said that they are facing increased expectations from the board and senior leadership, but only 21% stated that budgets have increased. 41% said progress is slower than expected, and 15% said progress has stalled. These findings indicate that boards need to reconsider their approach to one of the most pressing issues facing organisations today.

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For all press enquiries, please contact: Melda Simon, Little Fires PR – melda@littlefires.co | +44 (0) 7740 584323

The Hidden Truth report monitors gender diversity on boards across over 2,000 FTSE All-Share and AIM-listed firms in the largest study of its type. As the data above shows, there is still significant progress to be made.

Whilst gender diversity among non-executive directors has improved significantly in recent years, just 21% of executive directors are women in the FTSE All-Share.

The FTSE Women Leaders Review set key targets for boards to achieve representative gender diversity. This report reveals that, collectively, the FTSE All-Share has broadly met the 40% target, while only 12% of AIM-listed firms have reached the same level of representation.

Gender diversity at board level in AIM-listed firms lags significantly behind, with a sharp increase in all-male boards from 18% (108) in 2023 to 35% (187) in 2024.

We’re delighted major news outlets have given this important research significant profile:

• The Times exclusive – All-male boards at Aim-listed companies rise by 73%
• Bloomberg Radio – Women on Boards CEO Fiona Hathorn on UK Diversity
• The Guardian business live – Just 13% of top roles at listed UK firms held by women – report
• Stylist – The number of women being hired into senior leadership positions is on the decline 
• Utility Week – Utilities best performing sector for having women in most senior roles
• Proactive Investors – AIM-listed firms see all-male boards rocket, research finds
• The FinTech Times – Greater scrutiny and monitoring of diversity gap needed 
• Rock the Street, Wall Street – Dramatic increase in all-male boards among AIM listed companies
• Board Agenda – round-up this week in governance
• HR Director – Only 13% of Top Board Roles at Listed Firms Held by Women

Hidden Talent (2023)

The executive expertise listed company boards are lacking

In partnership with global consulting firm Protiviti, our Hidden Talent report uncovers a very limited range of skills and expertise among executive board directors across over 1,000 companies in the FTSE All-Share and AIM listings, which calls into question the diversity of thought in the boardroom.

The data reveals that just 2% of executive directors hold positions other than CEO, CFO and Company Secretary. There is a further concentration in that small minority on COO or CTO roles, focused on operational efficiency.

The Hidden Truth (2022)

Board diversity in the FTSE All-Share ex-350

In partnership with global consulting firm Protiviti, our second Hidden Truth report monitors the gender and ethnic minority representation on FTSE All-Share boards – the 252 companies below the largest 350 companies (ex350). The report calls for ongoing and deeper scrutiny across listed companies to give a true picture of UK boardroom diversity.

The data reveals that while small gains have been made in the last 12 months, there is still a long way to go – with 50% of UK firms in FTSE All-Share ex350 have no women in C-Suite positions and 75% of boards having no director of colour.

The Hidden Truth (2021)

Diversity and Inclusion across the FTSE All-Share ex-350.

Our 2021 report created the most comprehensive picture ever of the state of diversity and inclusion across the entire FTSE All-Share. For the first time, it examines every FTSE All-Share company below the 350 (FTSE All-Share ex350) and brings together the Gender Pay Gap data across those FTSE All-Share companies, who are required to, or choose to, report.