Why is the path to gender equality in leadership still blocked in UK Boardrooms?

Women on Boards CIC® is calling for urgent action to deliver on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5, through structural reform, exposing the cracks, and driving policy change to create a defined pathway to leadership for women.

At a glance, gender equality in leadership looks like a slow but steady climb. But look closer, and you will see the cracks.

In boardrooms, executive roles, and top decision-making spaces, women are still significantly underrepresented. According to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls is a global priority. Yet the pathways to leadership remain largely unpaved for half the population.

The reality?

Most women are still being asked to fight tooth and nail for a seat that should have been made ready decades ago.

The data is damning

In the UK, only 8% of CEOs in FTSE 100 companies are women; and less than 35% of board positions across Europe are held by women. These numbers haven’t shifted dramatically in years and they simply don’t take into consideration the data for SME and Micro businesses. Have we normalised marginal progress as success? We’ve celebrated ‘the first woman’ in roles that should no longer be novelties. And we’ve mistaken visibility for access.

The pathways simply don’t exist

The issue is not a lack of ambition. It’s a lack of structure. There is no defined route for women to ascend from mid-level manager to executive. There’s no blueprint and often no mentorship.

The leadership ladder for women is missing rungs - or worse, it's built entirely differently, requiring women to outperform, over-qualify, and over-deliver just to be considered.

The systemic block

SDG 5 is not just about representation.

It’s pushing for the dismantling of systems that maintain inequality. That means addressing unconscious bias in promotion decisions, restructuring outdated parental leave policies, and removing cultural expectations that penalise women for balancing professional ambition with caregiving roles.

Gender equality shouldn’t be a tick box exercise.

Structural overhaul is required. Systemic change involves education reform, investment in inclusive leadership development, and government-backed policy shifts.

What’s next?

Until we stop applauding ‘the one woman who made it’ and start building ecosystems where hundreds can thrive, we’re not really progressing.

Should we really be accepting stagnation?

The Women on Boards CIC® mission is focused on challenging the structures that hold women back from board-level roles across the SME and entrepreneurship landscapes.

Through think tanks, research, and policy influence, we're helping shape the future.

If you have a experience or story you’d like to share do get in touch. As Women on Boards CIC® moves into the next phase of their work, lived experiences sit at the heart of their research and recommendations.

Contact us

For more information, please contact WOB CIC’s media partner:

Harpreet Stevenson

Director, of Collective Companion Marketing Solutions

Email: iNeed@collectivecompanion.com 

Or

visit Women on Boards CIC®’s website https://www.womenonboardscic.com/ to learn more.