Women bosses face more scrutiny than men, says chief of Government-backed review

Most of the UK’s biggest businesses have hit targets for gender representation in their boardroom, but fall short when it comes to women leaders who face greater scrutiny and unconscious bias, according to Government-backed report.

Data from the FTSE Women Leaders Review shows that women held 43% of board positions on FTSE 350 companies in 2025.

It marks a significant leap towards gender balance in the boardrooms of the UK’s biggest listed companies, from the 9.5% recorded when the review began 15 years ago.

Nevertheless, the proportion is more or less the same than it was in 2024.

Vivienne Artz, chief executive of the FTSE Women Leaders Review, said the “pace of change is naturally beginning to level as parity approaches”, adding: “Boards are still making progress, which is great, but there’s not as much progress to make.”

The review, which is supported by the Government, tracks the progress of the FTSE 350 and 50 of the UK’s largest private companies towards voluntary gender representation targets.

The latest report revealed that the proportion of women in leadership positions on the FTSE 350 has edged up to 36%, from 35% the previous year, as of the end of October 2025.

Within that, the proportion of women in chief executive roles was 8%, up from 7%.

There were nine women chief executives at FTSE 100 companies.

There has been a recent flurry of female bosses quitting from top listed companies and being replaced by men, such as Dame Emma Walmsley from drug firm GSK, Liv Garfield from water supplier Severn Trent, and Diageo’s Debra Crew.

On the other hand, energy giant BP appointed its first ever female chief executive, who is due to step into the role in April.

Ms Artz said firms were making slow progress when it comes to gender balance for the CEO, chair and finance director roles.

“It’s because they are incredibly demanding and difficult roles to fill,” she told the Press Association.

“I think that too often we rely on the safe option which is, ‘we’re going to have have someone who’s done it before’.

“And if you’re always going back to fishing in the same pond then you’re not finding new talent… you’re not looking at skills and expertise, as opposed to a CV that you feel comfortable with and you’re seen before,” she said.

Furthermore, Ms Artz said women can face barriers to leadership positions due to prevailing attitudes which have “not been easy to dismantle”.

“I think we can say that female CEOs get a lot more scrutiny and they get judged on different things that male CEOs do,” she said.

She said that talking points such as whether the person is married or has children can be “distracting, and in many ways it diminishes the credibility of the leader”.

“We do know that there is absolutely still unconscious bias and that there’s attitudes that need to change,” she said.

Ms Artz also argued that the cost of childcare means that families are led to making decisions that can “derail” or “sideline” a woman’s career.

Responding to the report, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the data “shows how far we’ve come”, adding: “But there is still a long way to go as women remain under‑represented in key executive roles.

“As Chancellor, I’m clear there should be no ceiling on a woman’s ambition.

“When they can participate fully at every level, organisations make better decisions, innovate more and perform more strongly, boosting our whole economy.”

Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said: “It’s essential that our top talent can reach the highest levels of leadership, which is why I’m so pleased the UK continues to lead the charge for gender equality in boardrooms.

“However, be in no doubt that despite this progress, there is still much more work to do.”

Looking at individual companies, drinks giant Diageo and supermarket and services chain The Co-operative Group have the highest representation of women in their boardrooms, at 77.8% and 72.7% respectively.

Marks & Spencer, HSBC, and water firms Severn Trent and Pennon Group are among those to record representation greater than 60%.

At the other end of the scale, parcel giant Evri and yoghurt maker Muller had no women on their boards, while the likes of pub groups Mitchells & Butlers and Wetherspoons were towards the bottom of the list with representation of 22%.