Employed vs. Self Employed Rethinking the pathway to leadership
- Women on Boards CIC®
- Jul 3
- 3 min read
With self-employment rising but structural barriers persisting in both traditional and entrepreneurial pathways, we must rethink how leadership is defined - and who gets to access it!
Leadership roles for women often come with a catch: compromise.
The traditional employment route promises structure, benefits, and a ladder. The climb up the ladder is slow, unpredictable, and often stacked against women. Meanwhile, the selfemployed route offers freedom, flexibility, and ownership. This route comes with risk, instability, and often, isolation.
So, which is the better option?
The corporate ceiling
In traditional employment, women frequently face glass ceilings, sticky floors or tall poppy syndrome. Promotion is often tied to visibility and availability - not capability. And the higher women climb, the lonelier it gets. Senior roles demand long hours, constant presence, and an acceptance of outdated systems. For mothers or caregivers, this is often an impossible equation.
Only 22% of UK mid-market businesses currently have a female CEO or managing director - a decrease from 30% in 2023, (Grant Thornton, 2024). The corporate path is shrinking, not expanding, for women in leadership.
The pull of entrepreneurship
Self-employment is increasingly attractive. In the UK, the number of self-employed women rose 8% over the last decade, reaching 1.56 million in 2024, (Business Money, 2024).
Why? Because women are tired of waiting for permission to lead. They’re creating spaces where they don’t have to justify their value. Starting your own business means setting your own hours, building your own team, and defining your own metrics of success. It offers both creative and emotional freedom.
But there is a catch.
While many women may choose self-employment, it’s often out of necessity, not luxury. They’re escaping inflexible employers, hostile cultures, or stagnant pay. What’s sold or appears as empowerment can sometimes also be survival.
The safety of the ‘steady’ job
For many women, especially those from lower-income backgrounds, taking a low-level, stable job is not about a lack of ambition - it’s financial survival. Stability is seductive. A reliable wage and predictable hours provide safety in an economy that rarely supports women-led risk-taking. In the same breath, it's also a trap, keeping women boxed into roles with little upward mobility.
Data from WBG shows that 35% of employed women in the UK work part-time, while among self-employed women, that figure jumps to 52% — a clear indicator of the flexibility gap.
The need for systemic options
Whichever the route, employed or self-employed, both options should be viable, supportive and inclusive. Women deserve choices that don’t come at the cost of their ambition, stability, or wellbeing. Redefining leadership and removing the barriers women face is essential, regardless of the path they choose.
A transformation is required around how we define leadership, offering flexible career progression, and funding women-led ventures with the same urgency as male-founded startups.
The gender pay gap still persists: in April 2024, full-time female employees earned a median of £17.88/hour vs. £19.24/hour for men. (ONS, 2024)
This is why Women on Boards CIC® is working with a cross-section of partners, industry professionals and policymakers to push for inclusive pathways, both in employment and entrepreneurship.
Contact us
For more information, please contact WOB CIC’s media partner:
Harpreet Stevenson
Director, of Collective Companion Marketing Solutions
Or
visit Women on Boards CIC®’s website https://www.womenonboardscic.com/ to learn more.
