Women in Business 2025

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Over 25 years of missed opportunities

Our latest Women in Business report reveals the pace towards parity in mid-market firms isn’t moving fast enough. A young woman starting her career today will be working for more than a quarter of a century before she can expect to work at a mid-market firm with gender parity in top senior roles.

Our research explores how gender balanced teams can bring better business performance – and with small and mid-market firms making up the largest part of the global economy, now is the time to keep up the pressure.

While it is concerning to see this increase from last year in the number of mid-market businesses reporting no women in senior management, it’s important to acknowledge the significant progress made over the past two decades.

Amanda Ward Partner - Advisory

One in seven Irish businesses lack women in senior management | 11 min read | 04 Mar 2025

Women in leadership

Key Insights - Ireland

Rising exclusion

16.3% have no women in senior management roles, an increase of almost 5% from last year (11.7%).

Limited representation

A further 13.8% of respondents have just one woman on their senior management team.

Gradual progress

36.5% of senior management roles were held by women in 2025, a slight increase (0.5%) from last year.

Ahead of the curve

Ireland is performing better than the global (34%) and European averages (34.9%) for women in senior management positions.

Women in leadership

Key Insights - Ireland

Top roles for women

Chief Human Resources Officer (48.8%) and Chief Financial Officer (43.8%) are the most common roles held by women in senior management in Ireland.

Breaking the glass ceiling?

The two least likely roles for women to hold in senior management in 2025 are CEO (6.2%) and Chairperson (2.5%).

Women in leadership

Key insights - Globally

Globally, although some economies are close to reaching parity in senior leadership positions, the rate of change is concerningly slow – advancing at a rate that would raise concerns if discussing the rate of economic growth. And yet both scenarios have similar, far-reaching consequences for the global economy.

The regional picture over time

Percentage of senior leadership roles held by women, shown by region and country over the last 21 years

List view

Pause movement

Source: Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) research into the views and expectations of senior leaders within the mid-market for 21 years

				% women in senior management
Country Name	Country Code	X Coordinate	Y Coordinate	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2009	2007	2004
Global	GL	92.5	118	34.0%	33.5%	32.4%	31.9%	31.2%	28.7%	28.8%	24.1%	24.5%	23.5%	22.3%	24.0%	24.2%	20.9%	20.2%	23.9%	24.1%	19.4%
Argentina	AR	27	11	34.9%	30.8%	29.4%	30.5%	30.8%	23.6%	19.8%	22.9%	15.0%	17.6%	15.7%	25.0%	18.1%	19.5%	18.3%	17.4%
Australia	AU	92	15	36.5%	39.6%	39.5%	32.0%	32.4%	28.4%	41.9%	15.1%	23.3%	22.9%	22.0%	22.0%	22.5%	24.2%	27.1%	23.0%	21.9%	22.1%
Brazil	BR	28.5	24.6	36.7%	37.1%	38.6%	37.8%	39.0%	34.4%	25.4%	29.5%	18.7%	18.5%	15.2%	22.0%	23.1%	26.5%	23.7%	28.7%	42.0%
Canada	CA	16	70	34.7%	35.5%	38.6%	30.4%	35.6%	32.0%	28.4%	25.0%	23.4%	26.4%	25.1%	23.0%	26.6%	25.1%	27.8%	27.9%	18.6%	22.4%
China	CN	80	48	35.3%	32.6%	35.4%	32.3%	28.6%	31.4%	28.3%	30.9%	31.3%	29.8%	24.7%	38.0%	39.0%	25.2%	33.8%	31.4%	31.9%
Egypt	EG	57.1	37.7	30.3%
France	FR	46	53	37.7%	37.9%	34.8%	31.1%	32.9%	27.9%	18.5%	32.8%	30.9%	28.0%	32.6%	24.0%	25.7%	23.8%	21.2%	17.8%	21.2%	20.7%
Germany	DE	52	56	30.1%	30.6%	29.9%	34.9%	38.2%	29.8%	35.5%	23.2%	18.4%	15.2%	14.0%	14.0%	31.3%	12.9%	11.4%	17.4%	11.6%	16.3%
Greece	GR	54.7	46.3	30.7%	31.6%	36.8%	28.3%	32.6%	24.5%	21.8%	26.0%	19.8%	26.7%	27.0%	29.0%	29.5%	21.3%	29.9%	23.0%	20.6%	22.0%
India	IN	72	36	36.5%	33.9%	36.0%	38.0%	39.1%	29.9%	28.2%	19.8%	16.9%	16.2%	15.2%	14.0%	18.9%	14.5%	9.2%	15.4%	13.9%	11.7%
Indonesia	ID	91	28	36.3%	37.4%	38.7%	38.1%	37.7%	36.6%	31.9%	42.6%	45.6%	36.2%	20.2%	41.0%
Ireland	IE	41	57	36.5%	36.0%	40.3%	30.5%	32.8%	31.1%	34.9%	31.8%	26.0%	19.1%	24.4%	23.0%	21.2%	21.3%	19.4%	21.5%	21.0%	15.6%
Italy	IT	49.7	46.3	34.8%	35.7%	34.0%	29.9%	29.0%	27.6%	24.3%	33.9%	26.9%	29.0%	26.1%	30.0%	23.8%	36.0%	21.6%	21.0%	14.3%	18.2%
Japan	JP	90	50	18.4%	19.5%	15.9%	14.9%	14.7%	12.1%	15.4%	5.4%	7.1%	7.3%	7.8%	9.0%	7.4%	5.3%	8.1%	6.6%	6.6%	7.6%
Kenya	KE	59.7	29.2	37.9%
Malaysia	MY	79.6	28	36.2%	39.6%	40.4%	40.1%	36.9%	33.4%	22.7%	27.9%	24.2%	26.5%	22.4%	25.0%	25.8%	28.3%	31.3%	31.3%	23.0%
Mexico	MX	14	37	38.9%	36.2%	38.0%	32.6%	35.0%	36.9%	25.5%	33.9%	23.9%	18.2%	22.5%	28.0%	22.8%	18.3%	18.5%	30.9%	20.4%	26.6%
Morocco	MA	45.7	40.9	34.2%
Nigeria	NG	48	30	34.0%	40.6%	38.7%	37.7%	35.7%	36.2%	38.5%	30.1%	29.3%	28.8%	20.5%
Philippines	PH	87.8	35.8	43.0%	43.1%	48.8%	39.2%	48.0%	42.9%	37.5%	46.6%	39.5%	39.0%		40.0%	37.1%	38.6%	34.8%	47.5%	50.3%	39.4%
Singapore	SG	84.5	28	36.3%	31.3%	49.3%	33.8%	32.8%	30.7%	33.0%	29.7%	29.8%	25.8%	22.9%	23.0%	27.4%	23.1%	29.9%	27.9%	20.8%	23.0%
South Africa	ZA	53	13	47.2%	42.0%	41.0%	42.5%	43.4%	40.1%	24.2%	29.0%	28.2%	22.7%	27.3%	26.0%	28.2%	28.1%	27.4%	27.9%	29.3%	26.5%
South Korea	KR	94	62	21.7%	19.6%	23.5%	21.1%	18.3%	16.5%	29.9%
Spain	ES	42	47.2	40.4%	40.3%	37.6%	35.9%	33.5%	33.8%	29.7%	27.2%	27.2%	25.8%	25.6%	22.0%	21.4%	24.1%	22.2%	20.6%	17.3%	14.1%
Sweden	SE	51	68	35.3%	34.3%	30.5%	32.0%	30.1%	26.9%	21.6%	29.5%	28.5%	25.8%	28.0%	26.0%	26.8%	22.9%	26.7%	21.5%	22.5%	17.7%
Thailand	TH	79.7	37.8	43.1%	41.0%	36.6%	38.0%	34.2%	33.5%	19.4%	42.1%	31.4%	37.1%	27.2%	38.0%	35.8%	39.3%	45.0%	37.8%	39.2%
Turkey	TR	59.6	46.2	41.3%	41.0%	36.9%	40.3%	34.9%	35.9%	33.9%	27.2%	23.2%	20.5%	25.7%	25.0%	30.0%	31.0%	25.0%	28.7%	17.2%	20.4%
United Arab Emirates	AE	62.9	39	26.1%	22.9%	27.1%	27.5%	26.3%	22.7%	24.2%
United Kingdom	GB	45	62.6	36.3%	33.5%	32.5%	32.3%	33.5%	29.3%	25.6%	22.5%	18.7%	21.0%	22.2%	20.0%	19.0%	20.2%	23.1%	20.7%	19.3%	17.6%
United States	US	12	55	34.0%	34.8%	30.8%	33.3%	32.3%	28.3%	31.1%	21.2%	22.7%	23.2%	21.1%	22.0%	20.3%	16.9%	15.0%	20.3%	23.3%	19.8%
Vietnam	VN	84.8	44	37.4%	33.4%	33.5%	33.3%	38.9%	32.9%	36.9%

Drivers of diversity

To avoid another generation of missed opportunity – for women, for the midmarket, and for the whole economy – now is the time to keep up the pressure. We’ve identified three key drivers of diversity in this year’s report:

Be bold, set ambitious targets on senior positions.

Businesses must have a clear target on the percentage of women in senior management positions and consider going a step further and set targets on specific positions they would like to see women occupy.

Commit to targets supporting all career stages, not just leadership.

Our data has shown that networking and mentoring help ensure that, once women reach senior management, they stay there. Firms need to put in place targets on these key areas, support women through their career journey and better enable their professional development. If they lose talented female staff, they miss out on potential growth.

Exert pressure on external partners throughout supply chains.

Firms that invest in, partner with, or are clients of mid-market businesses have significant influence in driving gender balance. By setting expectations and prioritising diversity in supplier relationships, businesses can encourage their partners to adopt inclusive strategies and targets.