- Women hold 25.8% of board seats at large and mid-cap global companies in 2023, up from 24.5% in 2022
- Despite this increase, the 1.3% growth amongst the global companies of the MSCI ACWI index, is down compared to 1.9% in 2022.
The CEO position remains male dominated.
- Only 9.1% of board-chair roles and 6.5% of CEO roles were held by women, although the number of female CEOs has doubled since 2019.
- Women held 18.8% of CFO roles across constituents of the MSCI ACWI Index, up from 16.9% in 2022
The 40% women on boards threshold projected to be in met in 2033.
- 41.2% of constituents of the MSCI ACWI Index had at least 30% of board seats held by women, a milestone that many investors, regulators and other stakeholders have long advocated for.
- Reaching a fully equal representation of 50:50 gender split appears to be further away; we currently project a 2040 date.
CEO pay disparity varies by sector and country.
- The average pay package for global CEOs was USD 6.3 million for women and USD 6.5 million for men in 2022.
- Across sectors, the communications sector had the most significant pay disparity, with male CEOs earning an average total pay of USD 9.9 million more than their female counterparts.
- In contrast, in industrials, women outearned men by an average of USD 4.4 million.
- The consumer staples sector showed the least pay disparity, with women averaging only USD 100,000 more than men in total summary pay.
Ethnic diversity reporting is sporadic despite regulatory requirements
- Ethnic and racial diversity disclosures were still limited and incomplete
- Boards were more diverse than executive suites, both in terms of gender and ethnicity.
- Gender diversity was greater than ethnic and racial diversity for both boards and executives, according to the limited U.K. and U.S. data available in this area.
