Top firms’ gender-balance progress ‘stalls’

A group set up to promote better gender balance in Irish businesses has reported progress at board level among large publicly listed companies.

A report by Balance for Better Business (B4BB), however, has found that progress has stalled at leadership level.

B4BB was launched in 2018 as an independent business-led review group to promote gender balance on the boards and senior leadership teams of businesses in Ireland.

All-male teams

Its annual report finds that women made up 40% of the boards of Irish companies listed on the ISEQ20 index for the first time last year.

The group welcomed the finding, adding that it met the requirement of an EU directive that requires 40% of board members to be women by 2026.

Its report finds, however, that the proportion of women on the leadership teams of the ISEQ20 has fallen slightly from 27% to 24%.

“The number of all-male leadership teams has also become more prevalent,” it notes, with 20% of ISEQ20 leadership teams all-male – up from 16% in 2023.

Privately held companies

There are no female chief executives currently on leadership teams of ISEQ20 companies – a fall on the previous year as two female chief executives stepped down from their roles.

B4BB says that, while the number of women in key decision-making roles is a concern, the “small and declining sample size” of the ISEQ20 over the past 12 months means that changes in its composition can result in a disproportionate impact on leadership figures.

“As we move forward, we will be putting more emphasis on progress in privately held companies, as they represent a larger proportion of the economy overall and a greater number of employees,” the group states.

B4BB has called on all organisations to put a plan in place to achieve female representation of more than 40% on boards and leadership teams.

Supply of talent

Findings from the CSO, included in B4BB report, show that accommodation and food services, administrative and support service, and financial, insurance and real estate are the three sectors with the highest proportion of women in management roles.

“This is an indicator of a strong supply of female candidates for leadership level positions,” it adds.

The report also highlights sectors where the supply of female talent is an issue.

“While data shows that only 9% of professionals in the construction sector are women, the sector has engaged positively with B4BB and is taking positive steps forward to accelerate its gender-balance journey,” the group states.