FULL ARTICLE

Highlights

• The number of female chief executives of Fortune 500 companies is 5%. Only 4% of chair people of the boards of Europe’s largest publicly quoted companies are women
• The Credit Suisse Research Institute examined 2,400 companies worldwide and found in 2012 that investors would fare better holding shares in those with at least one woman on the board
• For a long time, the debate about gender equality was confined to women. Over the past decade, senior men have started to take responsibility for leading change
  Status will instead rely increasingly on unique skills and talents, or the ability to connect people, or being an inspiring leader
• Women are leading the way in reshaping how jobs are done, including at senior levels
• In the US, the number of women-owned firms grew at 1.5 times the national average between 2007 and 2014, according to a study commissioned by American Express OPEN
• Women hold much greater sway in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia than in most Western economies. Russia tops the table with women in 43% of senior roles
• Work-life conflict used to be seen primarily as a problem for women. But now employed fathers in dual-earning couples are more likely to experience such conflict
• Companies have focused their “gender diversity” efforts increasingly on top talent, and it has distracted attention from even bigger gender divides