Read: Targets are good, role models are better

The recent news that 40% of UK FTSE 100 board positions are now held by women, taking it to second place internationally, is encouraging. It’s certainly a big improvement on just 12.5%, ten years ago.

A new report by the FTSE Women Leaders Review - an independent, business-led framework supported by the Government - looked at women’s representation in 24,000 positions on FTSE 350 Boards and in leadership teams of the UK’s biggest companies. In addition to the 40% increase for FTSE 100 companies, it found that women’s board representation had risen to 36.8% in the FTSE 250 and to 37.6% in the FTSE 350. There were also 700 more women in leadership roles in FTSE 350 companies this year, an increase year-on-year of 2% to 31.5%.

These are positive headline figures which signal that the tide is turning and that success for women at the very highest levels of business is an achievable prospect. There’s no denying, however, that there is still some way to go. At the moment, only one in three leadership roles are held by women, about 25% of all executive committee roles are held by women and there are still very few women CEOs - only eight in the FTSE 100. Just over a third of FTSE 350 companies have still not reached the original target of 33% of board positions held by women set by the Hampton Alexander Review. Questions also remain about the lack of diversity – for example, there are no women of ethnic minority origin on the FTSE 100 chief executive list.

To try to drive further change, the report has recommended that FTSE 350 Boards should have a voluntary target of a minimum of 40% women’s representation and to have at least one woman in the Chair, Senior Independent Director role on the Board and/or one woman in the Chief Executive Officer or Finance Director role by the end of 2025. It also suggests that the scope of the review should be extended beyond FTSE 350 companies to include the largest 50 private companies in the UK by sales.

But real change will not be achieved by target or quota setting alone. Authentic change comes from within organisations, from the top down. And that is the real driver of aspiration. It’s not just about getting women to the senior levels of a company, it’s about the transformative effect that they can have on others – by visibly stepping into those top jobs and by being seen to be successful role models.  

Many would argue that, at a senior leadership level, women bring a more empathetic, collaborative and people-focused approach to the boardroom and to the company which delivers positive benefits for the business as a result. What is indisputable - but often underestimated - is the transformative effect that their position can have on others. Not only do they empower women at every level of the business they lead, but they also provide real-life examples of success to all women. To every female executive trying to break through into the senior ranks of an organisation and to every little girl who thinks that large parts of the world of work is not for them. As Hillary Clinton said in her concession speech after losing the US presidential race to Donald Trump: "To all the little girls watching...never doubt that you are valuable and powerful & deserving of every chance & opportunity in the world." That speaks particularly strongly to those from disadvantaged backgrounds, who have no family or peer role models to follow and no connections to give them a helping hand up the career ladder.   

In the Purpose Coalition, we are working with many senior women who are leading their organisations to make a more positive impact on society. Three businesses cited in the Review as FTSE 350 companies having both a woman CEO and Chair – Severn Trent, Pennon Group and Direct Line Insurance Group - have all worked with us to propel the levelling up agenda into business culture, benefitting their colleagues, their customers and their communities. Many of the universities and NHS Trusts we work with have women in their most senior roles, setting an example for those in the rest of the organisation as well as those they serve.

Of course, many remarkable women have trailblazed their way to the top without any role models to inspire them but with every door they kick open, they ease the way so that others can follow. Whether that’s as a businesswoman in the boardroom leading one of the world’s most powerful companies but also, more broadly as a journalist reporting from the frontline, or an MP helping her constituency to be a better place, or a medal winner in a sport where previously only men competed. They set out the possible and demonstrate it is achievable.

Rt Hon Lord Walney, Crossbench member of the House of Lords & former Labour MP for Barrow & Furness