Women in leadership roles take center stage in Sweden and Latvia
Celebrated on March 8, International Women's Day serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for gender equality in various sectors, including management roles. While progress has been made, the distribution of women in managerial positions across EU countries has historically been below 50%, with ongoing increases reflecting positive trends in gender representation.
In the past decade, women’s share in management roles remained under half, but recent years have shown encouraging signs of change. According to the latest data, the overall number of women in managerial positions in the EU has grown by 3.1 percentage points (pp) since 2014, with 20 countries observing an increase.
However, not all countries have experienced equal progress. While Nordic countries like Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Ireland have demonstrated significant growth, traditional Southern European countries such as Spain and Italy still show higher male dominance in employment sectors overall, indicating slower progress in managerial gender parity.
Latvia, known for its commitment to gender equality, is one of the top countries in Europe for having women in senior positions. The country's figure for women in managerial positions is only slightly lower than Sweden, a renowned bastion of gender equality. Sweden, in fact, reported an increase of 6.5 pp in the number of women in managerial positions since 2014, holding the largest share of women in these roles in the EU in 2023 (43.7%).
On the other hand, Lithuania and Hungary have seen a decrease of 1.7 pp and 2.6 pp respectively in the number of women in managerial positions. Meanwhile, countries like Cyprus and Malta have reported substantial increases, with Cyprus observing a rise of 10.5 pp.
Despite these variations, the EU as a whole has made strides towards achieving gender parity in management roles. As of 2023, women represented 46.4% of all employed people but held 34.8% of managerial positions. This gap, though narrowing, still indicates ongoing inequalities.
In terms of the countries with the lowest shares of women in managerial positions, Luxembourg, Croatia, and Czechia hold the unfortunate distinction, with 22.2%, 23.8%, and 27.4% respectively.
The data, published ahead of International Women's Day, serves as a reminder of the progress made and the work still to be done. As we celebrate women's achievements, it is crucial to continue pushing for gender equality in all sectors, including management roles.
- In the EU, Sweden accounts for the highest share of women in managerial positions, with a remarkable increase of 6.5 percentage points since 2014, despite Latvia having a figure for women in managerial positions that is only slightly lower.
- While progress has been observed in many EU countries, traditional Southern European countries such as Spain and Italy may still need time to achieve a significant growth in female representation in management roles, highlighting an ongoing struggle for gender parity.
- Not every country in the EU is making the same pace towards gender parity in business and finance. For instance, compared to the developments in other countries, Luxembourg, Croatia, and Czechia have the lowest shares of women in managerial positions, underscoring the ongoing effort required to achieve workplace gender equality.
