The proportion of women holding senior management roles in Canada has declined to 25%, down from 28% at the same time in 2011.
On a global basis, women hold 21% of senior management roles, which is barely higher than the level in 2004. A woman serves as CEO in only one in ten businesses.
More distressing is the fact that 34% of businesses around the world have no women in senior management at all.
The figures from Grant Thornton’s most recent International Business Report (IBR) reveal that women hold just over one in five (22%) senior management positions in businesses surveyed in Latin America, down from 28% in 2009.
Similar falls have been recorded in the Asia-Pacific economies (25% in 2009, down to 19% in 2012), South East Asia (36% in 2009, down to 32% in 2012) and the BRIC economies (30% in 2009, down to 26% in 2012).
However, the number rose slightly in the U.S. over the past two years to 17%, despite rising unemployment. And the proportion of women in senior management in Europe, has also continued to rise steadily, from 17% in 2004 to 24% in 2012.
Of the 40 economies surveyed, businesses in Russia employ the most women in senior management (46%), ahead of Botswana, Thailand and the Philippines (all 39%), while Italy ranks highest in Europe (36%).
Japan only employs women in 5% of senior management positions, below Germany (13%), India (14%) and Denmark (15%). Australia marks the high end of the scale with the highest proportion of female CEOs.
One factor that influences the proportion of women in senior management is the number of women who are economically active, with female economic activity rates remaining fairly mixed.
“It’s encouraging to see that Canada remains is in the top half of the country rankings, but we’re still not seeing significant change over time,” said Phil Noble, executive partner and CEO of Grant Thornton LLP in Canada.
In Canada, the proportion of female adults in the labour force is 63%, the highest level of any G7 country. If two-thirds of women are active in the workplace, though, why are only 25% of them climbing the career ladder?
He adds, “Getting more women into senior management positions has been high on the political agenda for quite some time in Europe, where governments have been vocal. The slow pace of growth in Canada is concerning if Canadian companies—and our economy—are to continue to grow.”
Women made progress in the wider workforce over recent years, with the proportion of women in the mature market workforce rising from 48% in 1970, to 64%.
Research has shown that companies with a higher proportion of women on the senior management team tend to provide stronger stock market performance.
Mixed gender boards also show better attention to audit and risk oversight and control, with recent research out of Britain showing that just one female board member reduces the chance of a business folding by 20%.
“The last thing we want to see is a race to mediocrity where the proportion of women in senior roles stagnates for a number of years,” Noble says. “There needs to be a public discussion about the policies and practices that will enable and encourage women to continue to progress in the workplace.”